Don't Tell Dad I'm Dating A Malfoy
by Fairy Roses
Summary: Scorpius asks Rose out on a date but the boys in her family will do anything to keep the two of them apart. After encouragement from Lily, however, Rose takes a chance.
1. His Initials

Summary: Scorpius asks Rose out on a date but the boys in her family will do anything to keep the two of them apart. After encouragement from Lily, however, Rose takes a chance.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Don't Tell Dad I'm Dating a Malfoy

Chapter One: His Initials

I've never thought of Scorpius Malfoy as more than just a boy that I went to school with. For seven years, we took the same classes, studied in the same library, and ate our meals in the same Great Hall. So why now, two years after finishing our seventh year, am I wondering why we rarely talked?

Before I get too excited, let me explain a little about myself. My name is Rose Weasley. I'm twenty years old, and right now I'm working at a little restaurant in London, called Nathaniel's. I'm not quite sure what I want to do as far as a career, so I'm just working here to make some money until I figure out my goals in life. It's fun, I really enjoy it, and it suits me for now. I live by myself just a couple blocks down the road. Well, I'm not totally alone. I have a cat. His name is Gregory.

As I mentioned, I work at a restaurant in London. It's just a quaint little family-owned and operated establishment. For seven years I'd never thought of Scorpius as more than just a classmate. That was before Scorpius started coming to my restaurant for lunch every day during the week. I always wait on him and often find myself looking forward to his lunch break. I'm not entirely sure why we never talked in school.

Speaking of Scorpius, he's walking in the front door right now. I look at the clock. He usually comes in before noon. It's after one.

We greet each other and he sits down at his usual table by the register. I give him a glass of water.

"Thanks Rose. How's your day been?"

"Not too bad," I put a menu down in front of him, but it's really just a formality. I'm pretty sure he has that thing memorized. "You just missed the lunch rush. We were really busy about twenty minutes ago. Working hard today?"

He nods. "You could say that," he picks up the menu and flips to the desserts. He never orders one. He just likes to torture himself. His words, not mine. "I took a later lunch today because I had an interview this morning and we met for brunch."

"And here I was starting to worry that you weren't coming today. I was scared that you'd found a different place to eat your lunch at," I make a joke about it, but the few days that he hasn't come in for lunch, well… Let's just say that I noticed.

"You have such little faith in me," he scolds playfully.

I smile. "So, an interview, eh? Anybody exciting?" Scorpius works for the Daily Prophet. I've read a few of his articles. Okay, I've read all of his articles. He's pretty good.

"Not really. I interviewed the owners of the antique shop that just opened in Hogsmeade. They're a nice old couple."

He's only been working there for a year and a half so he still does random things that nobody else wants to do. Well, at least it's an improvement from his first months there. He's worked hard and has come a long way.

"When should I expect to see it in the Prophet?"

He shakes his head. "Probably tomorrow. You know, sometimes I think that you're just too nice. Besides the owners, and maybe my parents, you're probably going to be the only one to even notice that article."

"I have an appreciation for talent," I shrug. "Anyway, what can I get you today?"

I take his order and then busy myself with this and that. Scorpius talks to me all the while.

A few minutes later, Nathaniel, the younger one, yells that the order is up. Nathaniel's father, Nathaniel, owns the restaurant. Nathaniel, the younger one, is a year older than me and works as a cook. I serve Scorpius his food.

"Enjoy."

"Thanks."

"I'll get you some more water," I refill his glass. Scorpius is literally the only customer at the moment so I start doing whatever work I can do up front so that I can keep talking to him.

"Why don't you sit down?" He pulls a chair out for me.

"I'm on the clock," I remind him.

"Er, I think that you might be okay," he looks suspiciously around the restaurant. "Nobody out here is going to mind if you sit for a few minutes."

I walk slowly toward the chair and slip into the seat.

"That wasn't so hard, was it?"

"You're a bad influence on me, Malfoy."

Regardless of how bad of an influence he might be, I end up sitting with him until he finishes his sandwich.

He pulls out his wallet and hands me money. "I should head back now. Let Nathaniel know that I think he might have undercooked my food, it tasted awful," Scorpius says this loudly.

"You ordered a cold sandwich," Nathaniel yells from the kitchen.

"Yeah, I thought it'd be hard to screw up, too. Somehow you managed!" He yells back to him and winks at me. "Have a good one," he stands up. "Oh. I wanted to ask you. Do you like coffee?"

An inadvertent giggle escapes from me. I reach out and shake his hand. "Hello," I say. "My name is Rose Weasley and I've been addicted to coffee for at least three years now."

"Well that explains why you're so short. I hear coffee stunts your growth."

We share a laugh. For as much as I resemble my mother, I did inherit my height from my dad. I'm relatively tall for a girl. I wasn't quite the tallest girl in my class at Hogwarts, but I was close.

"So I was wondering, would you like to maybe go out for coffee with me tonight? There's a nice coffee shop near my flat. Muggles work there, but it's not bad at all."

I'm a little surprised. Scorpius and I have done our fair share of flirting in this past year or so, and we do enjoy our lunchtime chats, but I'd never before gotten the impression that he would want to invite me to spend time with him after work. I'm actually rather flattered. Why not?

"I should be able to. I don't think I have any plans tonight," I tell him.

"When do you get off work?"

"Tonight?" I think for a moment. It's Thursday. "Four."

"You know where the Daily Prophet is, right?"

"Of course," I answer.

"Would you be able to meet me outside of there at five?"

"That shouldn't be a problem."

He walks to the door. "See you then."

XXXX

Around half past three in the afternoon, James, Albus, Lily and Hugo walk through the doors. Uncle Harry's birthday is coming up at the end of the month and Aunt Ginny wants us to plan it. She says that every time she ever tries to surprise him, somehow he always finds out about it, so she wants us to see what we can do. I'd forgotten. I'm not going to be able to go out with Scorpius tonight.

"Something's different about you," Lily says right away when she sees me. "What's going on?"

"What do you mean?" I don't know how she does it, but that girl has a sixth sense when it comes to reading my emotions.

"You just look different."

James comes up to the counter and gets closer to my face. "She's right. Something is different."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I insist.

Hugo and Albus walk up behind James and stand on either side of him.

Still by the door, Lily snaps her fingers. "I've got it! Who is it, Rose? Who's the boy?"

"Boy?" James and Hugo both shout at the same time. Albus scratches his head.

"That's right. I haven't seen Rose smile like this since the early days of dating stupid old what's-his-name."

"His name's Jeff," Albus offers. I cringe at the sound of his name and Lily rolls her eyes at Albus. Jeff isn't exactly my fondest memory, but that's a story for another day.

"Anyway," James smacks Albus on the back of the head. "Is Lily right?"

I blush. "It's nothing."

"Right," Hugo isn't convinced. "Rose, you need to tell me if there's a guy in your life. I need to approve of him."

"I'm sorry, since when have I needed your approval?" I cock an eyebrow at my younger brother.

"Since I got taller than you, 'little' sis," he pinches my cheeks affectionately. It's true. He's finally taller than me. I had him for his first sixteen years, but then he all of a sudden had a huge growth spurt two years ago.

"It's nothing," I repeat. "Someone just asked me out for coffee tonight."

Lily's eyes grow huge. "Who? Is he cute? Is he older? Is he rich? What does he do? Does he have a younger brother?"

"Settle down, Lily. Take a breath," James chuckles. "She said coffee. It's not like he's taking her out to a five star restaurant. That barely counts as a date."

"Exactly," I agree with him. "We're just going to sit down and talk."

"Who is he?" Hugo asks.

"Because, we usually talk here while I'm working. He comes in almost everyday," I grab a towel and start wiping at a spot on the counter.

"Who is he?" Hugo repeats.

I start scrubbing furiously. "And I think it'll be nice to just be able to have a normal conversation without having to walk away and tend to other customers."

"Rose, if you don't tell me who it is, I swear I'm going to throw this vase at your head."

My brother loves me so much. I reach over and move the flowers off the counter.

"Do you remember Scorpius Malfoy from school?" I ask as I set down the cloth.

Everybody is silent.

Albus is the first to speak. "He was in Slytherin."

"That's right," Hugo's words come out harshly. "Slytherin. I don't think you should go out with him."

"Why not?" I cross my arms over my chest.

"I'm going to have to agree with Hugo on this one, Rosie," James adds.

I don't know what to think. Scorpius has never done anything bad to any of us. Like I said before, I never really talked to him when we went to school together. He was a bit of a loner and didn't give anybody any problems.

"Why are you so opposed to this? And don't say that it's because he was in Slytherin. Don't forget, Albus was named after Severus and he was a Slytherin. That's no judge of character."

Normally, I'm very laid back. But there are times that I can't just stay quiet.

"I don't want you to date him because of his name," Hugo starts to explain.

"What?"

"You're right!" Albus bangs his fist onto the surface. "Scorpius Malfoy! His initials are S and M. Rosie, that can't be a good sign," he enlightens the rest of us.

Hugo smacks himself on the forehead and I hear James choke back a laugh. "Not at all what I meant, but a valid point, I guess. Thank you, Albus. Rose," he turns to me. "He is a Malfoy. His family does not get along with our family at all. I'm pretty sure dad would kill you and, regardless of what I may have said when I was younger, I don't really want to be an only child."

"It's not like I'm planning on marrying the boy. He just asked me out for coffee."

"You shouldn't date him," James persists.

"Hold on. Just a minute ago you said that this barely even counts as a date, James."

"That was just to shut Lily up and make her stop bugging you about it. Besides, you know as well as I do that that's how dating starts."

"I can't believe this," I'm getting frustrated.

"Rose," Hugo places his hand over mine. "I don't want you to go out with him. There's just something about him that I don't trust."

This is ridiculous, but not something I want to fight about right now. "Fine. I won't go out with him tonight."

"Good. Glad to hear it," Hugo says.

"Hey, James," Nathaniel, the younger one, calls from the kitchen.

"Hey there. How's it going?" James and Nathaniel played Quiddich against each other when they went to Hogwarts. Nathaniel was in Hufflepuff.

"Not bad. I got a new tattoo last week. Come take a look."

"Is that right?" James wanders back to the kitchen, along with Albus and Hugo, to talk to Nathaniel.

Lily, who has remained silent up until now, leans on the counter and stares me straight in the face. "Are you really going to let them tell you who you may or may not date?"

I shrug. "If they can't get along with him, then I probably shouldn't date him anyway. You know how important my family is to me."

Lily raises her eyebrows and continues staring until I feel uncomfortable and look away. "Still, I don't think you should give up completely. They only don't like him because he's a Malfoy and, regardless of whether or not they admit it, because he was in Slytherin. I've personally never had a problem with him, and, as far as I know, neither have any of them," she indicates the boys in the kitchen. "Scorpius is as nice a boy as they come," she states matter-of-factly.

I consider her words.

"I never told anybody," she whispers. "But I used to have a crush on Scorpius." Sneaking a peak at the kitchen, she continues, "I always thought he was so gorgeous. I could imagine him being the very quiet, sensitive, romantic type, you know?" She sighs. "And his body, oh don't even get me started. The things I would do to that boy-"

"Lily!" I do not want to hear my little cousin talking like that!

"I think you should date him," she concludes.

I look behind me. "Hugo would be pissed. So would your brothers, I'm sure. Not to mention my dad would murder someone."

"It'll be alright," she dismisses my concerns.

"I don't know."

"Come on. I'll even help cover for you," she winks.

I'm silent for a long while. I do really like Scorpius. He's always very friendly. I think I might like to get to know him better, preferably when I'm not wearing an apron. "Do you really think that could work?"

"Sure it'll work," Lily persists. "See those guys back there in the kitchen? You know the ones who are trying to see if they can get the leftover lunchmeat to stick to the ceiling? They aren't exactly the brightest stars in the sky, to say the least. Besides, that would be terribly romantic, don't you think? A secret affair, it'd be just like something out of a romance novel," she sighs.

I smile at my cousin's sappy expression. She's really into fairytales, and 'They Lived Happily Ever After' nonsense. As for me, well, I'm well aware that fairytales and real life are two separate things. She and the boys sit down at a table and start discussing party plans. Lily shoots me a look.

I shake my head and go back to the back of the restaurant to write a note telling Scorpius that I can't meet him tonight. I use the owner's owl to send it.

A few minutes later the owl returns. Nathaniel hands me the note but doesn't ask any questions. For that, I'm thankful.

_Sorry to hear that you're busy tonight._

I read the first sentence before Hugo comes up to the counter. I shove the note under a pile of receipts. "Everything okay?"

"Sure," I answer, maybe too quickly.

He eyes me suspiciously. "Can I get a few sodas?"

I return the look. "Are you going to pay this time?"

"I'll see what I can do about that."

I hand him the drinks. "I get off in about fifteen minutes. I'll be over then. And you better pay!"

He nods and returns to the table.

I finish reading the note.

_Actually, tomorrow will work better for me, too. It looks like I'm going to have to work late tonight. I'll see you tomorrow._

Hey, I told my brother I wouldn't go out with Scorpius tonight. I didn't say a damn thing about tomorrow.

I look up and see Lily watching me. She smiles knowingly.

XXXX

That's it for the first chapter! I hope you enjoyed it! Um, yeah… The first person present tense style seemed to work really well for the last story I wrote, so I'm going to try it again. It's a very interesting way to write. Let me know what you think!


	2. First Not Date

Don't Tell Dad I'm Dating a Malfoy

Chapter Two: First Not Date

I keep watching the clock. I was supposed to get off at four again today, but Nathaniel, the older one, asked me to stay for a bit longer. Vivian, the girl who is supposed to relieve me, is going to be a little late. That's all right with me, it's more money, and thankfully Scorpius agreed to meet me here when he gets done.

To tell the truth, I'm a little nervous about all that. It's been a few years since I've gone on a first date. Not that this can actually be called a date. We're just going for coffee.

Anyway, my point is, it's been a while and I'm nervous. It was about four months ago when I got out of a relationship that (miraculously) lasted a couple years. (I say miraculously because, when I think back on it, Jeff and I are not even close to being somewhat compatible.) For the longest time, I believed that I would marry Jeff. It just seemed like the thing to do. He was my first love and, ever since I was a young girl, I always thought that my first love would be my only love. It's confusing to think about it now. Part of me is sad that it didn't work out between us but another part is relieved. We really weren't right for each other and we would have been miserable. We _were_ miserable. And then there's another part of me that is just so bitter and angry about how it ended. I'm so confused.

I don't want to think about that now. I just want to get my work done.

I'm in the middle of taking an order when the door opens. I look up. It's not Vivian, nor is it Scorpius. I finish with the customer and walk back to the kitchen.

"Are you okay, Rose?" Nathaniel, the younger one, asks me. "You seem a little out of it."

"Oh. I'm fine. Sorry," I start filling salt and pepper shakers. I can't just stand still. I need to do something.

"No need to apologize to me. By the way, remember the pen you were looking for earlier? I know where it is now," he points to my head. "It's in your hair."

I'm wearing my hair in a messy bun. I usually stick my pen up there and I usually remember about it, but I've been rather preoccupied today. "Oh," I pull a purple pen out of my hair. "Thanks."

"Er, there's a pink one in there too. That's the one I was talking about."

I feel in my hair again and pull out another pen. This one is green. "Really?" One more attempt produces the pink pen. I shout a triumphant "Aha!"

"Aw, poor kid," he gives me a pitying look. "You sure you're doing okay?"

"Of course."

"Anything you want to talk about?"

"No," I start. "Yes, actually. Yes. How do I look?"

"What?" He looks so confused. I've rarely ever, in my life, showed any care about my looks. I find that that's made me a very happy person. But I have a date tonight. Or, not a date. I should put some effort into how I look.

"Nothing. Never mind."

He looks at me suspiciously. "Have you had a lot of coffee today, Rosie?"

"Four cups."

"Ah, that explains why you're acting strangely. Drink more."

Laughing, I say, "You don't need to tell me twice."

I hurry back to the front. I pass a mirror on my way and make it a point to stop. Oh, I really wish I hadn't. I look like, well… I look like I've had a long day at work. Go figure. When I came in this morning, my hair didn't look like I'd just let a five-year old play hairdresser with me, not to mention my clothes weren't all wrinkled and- Okay. It'll be okay. We're just going out for coffee. I try to fix my hair to make myself a bit more presentable and I end up finding a blue pen. I give up.

Taking a deep breath, I go back out there.

And, wouldn't you know it, there's Scorpius sneaking in the door. Fantastic. I give my hair one last smooth-over and smile as he waves at me and takes a seat next to the door. He sets his shoulder bag down on the floor next to him. It's strange to see him sitting there and not in his usual seat.

Maybe it's better, though. Nathaniel won't be able to see him. Oh no! I hadn't thought about that before. What if Nathaniel sees the two of us and says something to Hugo or James? Would he rat me out like that? Should I tell him not to? Should I just keep it a secret from him, too?

Yeah, I'm going to go ahead and go with that last one. I think that maybe the less people that know the better.

I take a glass of water over to Scorpius. "Thanks for coming," I start. "Vivian should be here in bit and, as soon as she walks in, we can sneak out, okay?"

"Sounds like a plan."

"Speak of the devil," Vivian, looking quite vexed, rushes through the door.

She spots me right away. I step in front of where Scorpius is seated. "Rosie! I'm sorry, love. My regular sitter canceled on me at the last minute and I had to get hold of my sister to see if she could watch Matthew for me. She has three kids of her own. They're six, four, and the baby's only seven months old. Matthew plays very well with them so I didn't think it would be a problem, but it took forever for me to get in touch with her," she prattles on. Vivian is a 34 year-old single mother of one. Her husband passed away a few years ago. I love Vivian, she's such a sweetheart, but she sure enjoys talking. A lot.

I grab her arm and begin steering her toward the kitchen. I'm not trying to be rude, but she'll just keep talking if I don't stop her.

"It's okay, Vivian," I assure her. "Here, let me catch you up and then I'll get out of your way," I turn to look at Scorpius. I shrug and tell him to meet me outside before following Vivian into the back.

I talk quickly and am about to disappear when Nathaniel stops me to say thanks for being so awesome and staying later. Then the other Nathaniel tells me to take it easy and remember to check my hair for more pens so that I don't impale myself when I go to sleep tonight.

"That's probably the best advice I've heard all week, thanks."

When I finally make it outside, Scorpius greets me with a sympathetic smile.

"You look tired. You need some coffee."

"Okay, that could possibly be the second best advice I've heard all week."

"What?"

"Never mind. That's a nice purse you have there," I tease, pointing to his shoulder bag.

"It's called a satchel," he defends himself.

"Right, because that sounds so much more masculine," I giggle.

"It's practical. I need somewhere to keep my notes and I don't want to carry around a backpack and, I don't know why, but I see briefcases as being for older men. This suits me."

I take a step back and look him over, head to toe. He's wearing jeans, an untucked, white collared shirt, and a grey sweater over that. He looks like a sensitive artist. "You're right. It does suit you," I leave out my opinion that he's crazy for dressing like that in the summer.

"Thanks."

I stretch my arms above my head and inhale deeply. The air feels refreshing.

"So, how was work?" I ask.

"Not too bad. I must admit, today was one of the longest days I've had in a while."

"Did something bad happen?"

"Oh, no. It was a typical day, nothing remarkable. It just seemed long for some reason," he smiles at me and I feel as if there are butterflies fluttering inside my stomach. "How was your day?"

"My day _was_ long. I've worked longer shifts before, obviously, but it's not as bad when I know ahead of time and have time to prepare for them. It always seems worse when it's just sprung on me like that."

"Does that happen often?"

"Well," I sigh. "Yes. I adore Vivian, I really do. But she's late at least once a week. I understand completely, though. Her life isn't exactly easy."

"Vivian has a five year-old son, right?"

"Scorpius Malfoy, I am impressed. You do actually listen to me."

"Of course. I take notes and everything. Good journalism, that is."

I stop walking and just stare at him disbelievingly. He takes a few more steps before turning around to look at me. His lip curls into a smirk. "It was a joke."

We talk all the way to the coffee shop, mostly about the people we work with. Scorpius opens the door for me and I walk in. The little girl behind the counter greets me with a perky smile. She's at least a whole head shorter than me and looks like she couldn't be much older than twelve, but I'll guess she's about eighteen. She has shoulder-length black hair with dark blue streaks that she's wearing in pigtails. Her eyes are a dull grey but full of energy. I think she might be buzzing on caffeine at the moment and I'm slightly jealous.

"Hello, Scorpius," she speaks quickly and in what might be the highest voice I've ever heard come from someone over the age of fifteen. "Would you like your usual?"

"You have a usual? How boring. Look at that menu," I admire the myriad of delicious-sounding beverages. Hot and cold!

He conveniently ignores me. "That'd be great, Emily. Thanks."

"And what about your friend?" She looks to me and I order a regular cup of coffee.

"And you called me boring?" He nudges me gently.

It's my turn to conveniently ignore him. I look around the room. It's a nice place and it has a very homey feel. The furniture is mismatched but the chairs look rather comfortable. I do a quick count and, yes. There are more potted plants than there are tables. Not to mention there are about five thousand paintings on the walls. Well, that's a slight exaggeration. It's very eclectic and I can see why Scorpius likes it here.

"By the way," Emily says as she begins making our drinks. "Are you Rose? Scorpius talks about a girl-" Scorpius interrupts before she can finish that statement.

"Thanks Emily. We'll be sitting over here. Let me know when those are ready, please."

Scorpius leads me to a table by the window. The sun is beginning to set and it's shining at that perfect angle where it blinds you. Pleasant. I guess I shouldn't complain, though. At least the sun is shining.

Scorpius pulls the delicate curtains over the window and it helps a bit. He pulls the chair out for me.

"Thank you." I sit down and gasp. "It's as comfortable as it looks!" I exclaim enthusiastically.

Scorpius chuckles. "I'll be right back."

I watch him walk up to the front counter and exchange a few words with Emily. I can't hear what they're saying but, at one point, she turns and looks at me with that same cheerful smile.

"She's awfully happy," I observe when Scorpius returns with our drinks.

"She's awfully caffeinated," he corrects me. "I don't think I've ever seen her without a smile."

"Hey, Scorpius?"

"Yes?"

"How does she know my name?"

He looks away from me. "You're wearing your nametag."

I look down at my shirt. "I am not."

He sighs. "I come in here nearly every day," he explains. "I might have mentioned you once or twice."

I smile smugly, but I won't push the matter anymore. "So," I wrap my hands around my coffee mug. "I know a few things about the 'Daily Prophet Scorpius,' I know all about 'lunch at Nathaniel's Scorpius,' and I've had a glimpse of 'after work at the coffee shop Scorpius' just now. What do you like to do when you aren't one of those things?"

"Hmm," he sits back and strokes his chin as if he were contemplating this very deeply. "Where do I start? I have quite an exciting life, if you must know. I enjoy reading and writing. I visit my parents every Sunday. I also like to get together with my coworkers on a regular basis and go out for dinner or go out for drinks. Like I said, it's quite exciting."

"Yeah," I force a yawn. "Quite enthralling."

"And how about you?"

Oops. I should have just kept my mouth shut. There's really nothing all that exciting about my life at the moment.

I sip my coffee and take my sweet time before setting it back on the table. "Hmm. What about me? I, er, I have a cat," I say desperately.

He places his elbows on the table and folds his hands. "Fascinating."

"Yeah," I'm slightly disappointed in myself. I don't want to be boring. "Well, currently, my cousins and my brother and I are all planning a surprise birthday party for my Uncle Harry," I smile. "I have a big family and we're all pretty close."

"Hmm. I don't have a big family, but I am rather close to my parents, at least. I think it would be nice to have a lot of cousins and a lot of aunts and uncles."

"Of course," I agree with enthusiasm. "It makes holidays rather exciting."

"I bet. So, what else? What do you like to do in your free time?"

"I like to read. I like to learn about all sorts of different things. I'm interested in everything from foreign cultures and languages to the 12,000 species of ants."

"You always did seem the nerdy type in school," he says with a smile.

"Me?" I cross my arms and raise my eyebrows. "I thought of you as a nerd. I never heard you speak more than two words to anybody at school and you always sat in the back of the classroom yet you still got rather good marks."

"You don't need to sit at the front of the class and answer every question to do well."

"Apparently," I concede.

"But I suppose that that method might work for some, right?"

I smile and pick up my coffee mug. It's almost empty.

"Do you want some more?"

I don't even hesitate when I answer. "Always."

Chuckling, he starts to stand up. I put my hand on top of his. "I'll pay for this round. Do you need some more?"

He sits back. "Sure. I'll take another. Thanks."

I walk up to Emily and order another coffee and a 'usual' for Scorpius.

"No problem," she turns around to get the drinks but then whips right back around. But… She doesn't say anything. She just stares at me.

"You okay?" I prompt.

"He talks about you a lot," she looks over at Scorpius. "I've been trying to convince him to ask you out for a while."

"Really?" I keep my voice hushed as I lean on the counter.

"Oh yeah. It was a few months ago, I think, that you broke up with your boyfriend, or fiancé, or… well, you stopped seeing the guy you'd been seeing. I told him to ask you out right away, but he was a bit more considerate."

"He told you all of that?"

"Well," she smiles in that innocent way that girls do when they've done something that wasn't quite so innocent. "I like to talk and I have a way with words. The poor boy really had no other choice. I dragged it out of him."

I laugh as thoughts of Lily fill my head.

"Don't worry, I don't know any super personal things. I'm not that creepy. I'm just a sap for a cute, romantic story."

"You and my cousin Lily should talk," I mutter to myself.

I look over my shoulder at Scorpius. And then I have to remind myself to breathe. He looks so handsome. He's leaning back slightly in his chair with his left leg crossed over his right and a notepad in his lap. His right arm is thrown over the back of the chair and he taps his pen against the wood absentmindedly. He runs his left hand through his hair and then scribbles something onto the paper. Maybe it's the lighting, but there's something very otherworldly about him right now and I'm absolutely mesmerized.

"He's rather good-looking, isn't he?" Emily's voice startles me and she sets down our fresh drinks. We share a smile and I walk back to Scorpius.

"Anything good?"

"Hmm? Oh. Sorry. Inspiration strikes at the strangest times," he puts the notepad away in his man purse. Er, I mean satchel.

We talk. The sun sets. We continue talking. Emily comes to let us know that they're getting ready to close down. I look at my watch and I can't believe how late it is. Scorpius invites me back to his place for a drink. At first I'm unsure, but he tempts me with the promise of more coffee.

It's a short walk. We talk about our families and our friends, our likes and dislikes, and all other manner of things.

He holds the door for me and I walk in before him. He flips the light switch and I'm surprised. "You have electricity?" I ask.

"Oh, so you've heard of it," Scorpius says. "And here I thought you might be impressed by this muggle invention."

"Yeah, mum's a muggleborn so I'm very familiar with these things. I'm surprised that you are, though."

"Well, I was a curious kid. Did you know that I took Muggle Studies in school? My dad wanted to make sure that I was more tolerant than he was. I guess it stuck."

"I guess so, seeing as you live in a muggle flat. Do you have any wizard neighbors?"

"Well, the lady upstairs is a witch, but not the magical kind."

I laugh and then scan the room. It's clean. Too clean. "Were you planning on asking me to come back here?"

"No, why?"

"Do you have a maid?"

"No, why?"

"Well, I couldn't imagine any of the boys I'm related to keeping their home clean. How strange."

"Well I like organization. I can't deal with clutter."

"So how much would you cry if I rearranged your books?" I point to the wall with the ceiling-to-floor bookshelf.

His face pales. "You wouldn't."

"I wouldn't leave me alone in here if I were you," I advise. Or threaten. Take your pick.

He eventually convinces himself that I'm merely bluffing and we settle down to talk. He brings me a cup of coffee.

I'm sitting on the couch with him, listening to him tell a story when, next thing I know, I hear birds chirping, a blanket is covering me, and Scorpius is sitting next to me, asleep. I watch him for a while and listen to his soft breathing. He stirs and opens his eyes slowly.

"Morning," I say happily. "Sorry I fell asleep. You should have woken me up."

"You looked so sweet, I didn't want to wake you. And, contrary to what most may believe, it's not impossible to fall asleep if the person next to you is snoring. Especially since you snore so rhythmically."

My jaw drops and I blush furiously.

Scorpius laughs. "I'm just kidding. You weren't snoring," he stands and stretches. "Do you want some breakfast?"

"Breakfast sounds amazing," I start but then realization strikes me. "Oh no! I'm supposed to meet Lily for breakfast this morning! What time is it?" I look at my watch. "I'm supposed to meet her in twenty minutes! I still have to get back home and get ready. Sorry Scorpius. I have to go."

I get ready to disapparate.

"Rose, wait," Scorpius says. I turn to look at him but he doesn't say a word. I'm suddenly aware of how close he's standing.

"Yes, Scorpius?"

"I wanted to-"

"Yes?"

He steps back and shakes his head. "I wanted to say thank you. Thank you for having coffee with me last night. I'm sorry that-"

"It's okay. Thank you for inviting me."

"Can I see you again?"

"Of course. When?"

He doesn't say anything right away.

"Are you maybe free tonight?" I inquire.

"Yeah, definitely," he clears his throat. "I mean, yes. Meet me here around six, okay? And come hungry."

"Then it's a date," I say before disappearing.

Thirty minutes later, my hair still a little damp from washing it, I meet Lily at our favorite place for breakfast.

"You're late," she says accusingly, tapping her foot impatiently. "Wait a minute!" Her expression changes completely when I sit down. "You're never late. Did you just wake up? You have bags under your eyes. You look tired. And happy," her eyes widen and she smirks slightly. "How was your date?"

I smile. I guess there's no getting around it. Much like Emily, Lily has a way of getting people to talk.

XXXX

That's it for the second chapter! Hope you enjoyed it.

P.S. Do you know what a good work out is? Run, swim, run. Um, when I say good I mean painful. Run for fifteen minutes, then swim 500 meters with various strokes and silly-looking swimming, tread water for a few minutes, then run for another fifteen. Throw in a few pushups and not to mention the unbearably hot Texas sun at 12 o'clock pm in the summer, and you have a few very tired, very dehydrated girls. Yeah, my friends and I were feeling very motivated one day. Let's hope that doesn't happen again. Cheers!

Thanks for reviewing! **redglasses**, (Hi! Glad you like the idea for this. To tell the truth, I was a bit worried at first about taking them out of Hogwarts, but I've been getting positive feedback for it so, phew.) **jociobear1987**, (Hmm, well, this story's rated T, so don't worry. I'll follow all those guidelines. Dunno if that's exactly PG, but there definitely won't be super-harsh language or adult themes in my writing.) **Kat.1600**, (Why, thank you!) **doing 25 life in azkaban**, (Whoa, it's pretty sad when you type azkaban with a lowercase 'a' and the auto-correct thing says 'silly nerdy girl, this is how you spell it' and fixes it to Azkaban. Anyway, thanks for the review!) **Dramoine-Fan 17**, (Thank you kindly.) **hondagirl**, (Hey, I already sent you a private message. If you didn't get it, let me know. If you did get it, then you have a pretty good idea of how strange I really am. Thanks again!) **Strawberry-Swirls**, (Glad you like tense! By the way, thanks so much for reading some of my other stories. Take care!) **?**, (Um, there you go!) **PadfootPatronus**, (Woot! You're back! I'm glad I could expand on that oneshot you read. And I promise that I didn't read it and steal the idea, or anything like that. To tell the truth, I don't read a lot of fanfiction because I'm worried it'll mess with my 'originality,' I guess, although I'm sure that it's probably all been done before at one point or another. xsighsx) **deliriousdobby**, (I'm delighted that you were amused.) **HarmonieFan**, (OKAY! Teehee. Good to see you back.) **–Argentinita-**, (Oi! I like the friendly Scorpius as well. It makes things much easier on my part, lol. And don't kid yourself. ALL boys are annoying. Mwahaha. You have a good weekend as well!)** iluvtheoc3000**, (Yay! Good to see you back! Yes… I am one of the lucky girls who have an older brother who is very protective when it comes to the B word. (I mean boys, of course. And is it lucky, or unlucky? I can't remember, lol.) Funnily enough, it was the S&M realization that inspired this story. Random bit o' trivia for ya. I'm a strange cookie. Moving on. Ah, yes, Scorpius. I luff him, as you're already well aware of. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Take care!) **FieldHockeyLover17**, (Woohoo! Loopholes! Good to see you back, reading another one of my stories too, by the way.) **FollowingTheInkTrail**, (Well, hello there, it's good to see you again. Yeah, that Lily. She's going to be quite the spunky one in this story. By the by, I'm the queen of wording things just right so that I can get what I want and go 'AHA!' later, lol. And, honestly, I'm not going to throw a fit about a long review. The longer the better! I love your enthusiasm! Take care!) **Shiva'sGirl**, (Good to see you again! Ah… your compliments of my quote unquote brilliance never cease to make me happy, lol.) **thewandofdestiny**, (Glad to see you back. Yeah, I was getting tired of the teenage/school setting and I wanted to try something a bit fresher. Hmm, I honestly hadn't considered making this story from anyone but Rose's perspective. I actually have another story that I haven't posted yet that is going to be both Rose and Scorp's POV. I'll have to think about it for this one, though. We'll see!) **gardensigernumbli**, (First of all, that's a heck of a name. Secondly, oodelalee! Teehee, I just wanted to type that. And, honestly sweetheart, if your brother doesn't already think that you're insane, then you obviously aren't doing your job as a sister correctly, lol. By this time, I'm positive that not a week goes by that my brother doesn't contemplate sending me to see a therapist. Yeah, realizing that those were his initials actually inspired this entire story. I don't know if I can explain how. Again with the insanity plea, lol.) **RafJK**, (Good to see you again. Teehee, WOOT! It's a good day when you can make someone choke on their iced tea. Especially with something that disturbing, lol. By the by, a couple people actually asked me in their reviews about S&M so I sent them messages saying what it stands for and, if they don't know what that is, then they should look it up in a dictionary. Don't google it. Dude, I don't even want to know what you found, lol.) **chewing-gum-addicted**, (TADA!) **dracosnumber1girl**, (Well hello there. Welcome back. So, funny story, I was looking at one of my old fics and then I looked through the reviews and, funnily enough, you reviewed that story about a year ago. I just thought that was cool.) **peealasbut**, (So, I like to look at people's names on here and try and figure out why/how they come up with it. Your name, however, I have no clue. _But_, _alas_, I have to _pee_. I'm sure that's not it at all, but I do seriously have to go, and that's all I could think of, lol.) **kulkat**, (Why, thank you. And thanks for reviewing my Hermione/Cinderella story as well. That was awesome.)


	3. An Awkward Day

Don't Tell Dad I'm Dating A Malfoy

Chapter Three: An Awkward Day

"Go on, Rose. Tell me all about it and don't spare any details."

"First," I sit down across from her. "Coffee."

"Er, hello? Do you think I'm new at this? I already ordered you a cup. Ah," the waitress comes and sets a mug down in front of me. "Just like magic," Lily winks at me.

"You're my favorite, Lily," I stir a bit of cream and sugar into my coffee.

"Favorite what?"

"Does that really matter?"

"I guess not. So," she says expectantly.

"So what?"

"So," she exclaims, "you show up ten minutes late and, in all my life, I have never known Rose Weasley to be late for anything. Not only are you late, but you also look rather tired," she smiles wickedly. "Now, if I were to put two and two together, I'm going to assume that your date went very well last night."

"It wasn't a date. It was coffee," I mumble, but she ignores me.

"And I'm also going to assume that you didn't just go out for coffee. Did you go to his place? Or did he go to your place?"

I'm telling you, the girl has a sixth sense, and it would be no use lying to her. I sigh with exasperation. "We went to his place."

"Aha," she sits back, quite obviously pleased with herself so far. "And from there I'm guessing that he must have kept you up all night. Or," she takes a sip of her tea for dramatic effect. "Or was it possibly the other way around?"

"Well, I guess we kept each other up, just talking by the way, but, wait a minute," I think about her words and then suddenly realize why she's giggling. "Lily Luna Potter! I cannot believe the things that come out of your mouth sometimes," I'm blushing furiously by this point. "We were talking. Nothing happened. We only talked."

"You slept with him," it's partially a question and partially a declaration.

"I did not! We both fell asleep on his couch, if you must know."

"You slept with him, you slept next to him," she shrugs. "It's the same thing, really."

"It's not even!"

She laughs. "Sorry Rose, I'm just teasing. Seriously, how was the date? Or, how was the not-date?"

I sigh. "It was great. We really," I look down at my hands and smile. "We clicked," I lace my fingers together.

"So you had a good time, huh? Didn't I tell you?"

"You're not very attractive when you gloat, dear cousin," I tell her matter-of-factly.

"Nonsense. I've been told that it's one of my better looks," she insists. We bicker for a bit longer until I'm ready to recap my night.

Lily's eyes grow larger with every word and, by the time I finish, she's on the edge of her seat. Literally.

"And then I must have fallen asleep because, next thing I know, it's morning and I realize I only have twenty minutes to get here."

"And then?"

"And then what? I told him I had a good time and we made plans to meet again."

She gasps. "When?"

I smile. "Tonight."

"Oh, that's great! Anyway, back to your story. So, you wake up and make plans to meet him again tonight, and then," she urges.

"Then I left."

"And then?"

"And that's it, Lily. I said that I left."

Lily slams her hands down on the table and knocks over her (luckily) empty teacup. "What?" She yells indignantly. "You didn't kiss him?"

"Lily, people are staring," I look around.

"Let them stare. Rose. The way you were smiling and looking around with stars in your eyes, I was sure you two must have snogged at the very least. Why didn't you kiss him?"

"I was in a rush this morning," I begin defending myself.

"And what about last night?"

"Well, I just," I start. "I guess we just," I'm not getting anywhere with this argument. "We just didn't."

"Why not?"

I shrug. "He didn't-"

"No, Rose," Lily raises her voice. "Don't even use that as an excuse."

"You didn't even let me finish."

"Oh, you're right. I'm sorry," she crosses her arms in front of her chest. "Were you going to say something along the lines of Scorpius didn't make the first move?"

I open my mouth to argue but it's a lost cause. That is exactly what I was going to say.

"Rose, it's okay for you to take the initiative in this case. From everything you've just said, it sounds like Scorpius really truly likes you. Try to see things from his perspective, though. Scorpius never was a very outgoing guy."

I hold up my finger to my mouth. "Can you please talk a little more quietly? I don't need the wrong people finding out about this. What if it gets back around to our family? Better yet, just don't say his name at all."

"Well then what should I call him?"

"I don't know, Frank?"

"Perfect. So. _Frank_ never was an outgoing guy," she continues. I roll my eyes. Merlin, what have I done? "Hey, pay attention," she snaps her fingers in front of my face.

If anybody else in the world would have done that to me, I would have hexed them so badly they wouldn't be able to sit comfortably for weeks. Lily and I, however, have a very special sisterly bond. It's funny because, when we were younger, we didn't really like each other and we always fought. Meh, who am I kidding? We still fight. But therein lies the beauty of our relationship. We provoke each other mercilessly, but never mean spiritedly, and we always know when enough is enough.

"Frank is very shy," she continues, "and I'm betting that he'll be a bit timid about kissing you, too. If you wait for him to make the first move, you might be waiting for a while. Trust me. You just need to go for it."

I listen to her with genuine interest. Wow. How sad is this? Here I am, in my twenties, getting advice from my teenage cousin.

We finish our breakfast and then go to Diagon Alley to get some ideas for Uncle Harry's party.

After about the third store we visit I make a suggestion. "Do you think your dad might appreciate a fairy princess-themed birthday party?" I hold up a glittery tiara and a star wand.

Lily strokes her chin thoughtfully. "He might like that, but let's see what else we can come up with first. We'll keep that as a Plan B."

I guess she wants a boring party.

Other than my idea being shot down, it's a rather productive day. Lily and I write down a list of a few options we want to run by the rest of our Party Planning Committee.

My mum had invited the lot of us over to the house today. We plan to meet up with James, Albus and Hugo there.

Lily and I arrive just in time to walk in on an apparently secret conversation. Right when we get into the house, Hugo hushes mum and dad and James. Albus isn't anywhere to be seen.

"Oh. Hi Rose, Lily," mum comes over and kisses my cheek. "Why don't you girls take a seat and join the fun?"

"What's going on?" Lily asks, not trying to hide the suspicion in her voice.

"Oh, we were just talking about the party for dad," James says.

"So, why did you get quiet all of a sudden? We're in on it too," Lily reminds him as she takes a seat next to her brother.

"We weren't sure who you were. We thought you might have been Uncle Harry," Hugo explains as I sit down next to him.

"Right," Lily the mind reader isn't quite convinced. "You guys are up to something," she accuses.

"No, really," mum insists. "Can I get you some coffee?" She starts in the direction of the kitchen.

"Et tu, Aunt Hermione?"

"Oh, Lily," mum laughs. "I think you're a bit paranoid. Oh my," she turns her attention to me. "You girls look very nice today."

Okay, even I'm suspicious now. I do not look 'very nice' today. "I, er, just sort of rolled out of bed and got ready this morning," I say slowly. "Mum, what's going on?" I look from her to Hugo to James. None of them will look me in the eye. Dad is sitting back in his chair looking as irritated as ever.

"Hey," we hear Albus from the other room. There's a look of pure dread on Hugo's face, "What about Eric Schmidt? Or what do you think about Chris Allen? Do you think that Rose would-"

"Al!" James yells. "Look who just showed up," he says through clenched teeth as his younger brother enters the room.

"Eric Schmidt? Chris Allen?" I repeat. I went to school with those boys. Lily's eyes narrow at James.

"Yeah," Hugo starts slowly. "We were actually talking about," he falters.

"What he means is we thought that the two of you could," James tries next.

"Job openings," mum blurts followed by Hugo's exclamation of "books."

"The boys want to set you up on a date, Rose," dad finally gives up, not that he seemed very committed to keeping it a secret anyway.

"What?" I can't believe this. Lily and I exchange looks. She puts her hands on her hips and stands up.

"We just think that it might be time for you to meet a nice guy," Hugo sighs. "We're trying to think of nice guys that come from nice families that would be a nice match for you."

"And then are we going to discuss dowry and property lines? What is wrong with you?" Lily demands. She's all fired up. "Rose isn't some charity case. She does not need your help getting a date. As a matter of fact, just last night," my eyes widen and my breath stops. Lily. Don't. "Last night we were talking about how she doesn't even want to have a boyfriend right now. Don't force this on her. Rose," she turns to me. "It's okay. You can start dating again whenever _you_ feel ready."

"I agree completely," dad adds. That's not a surprise. He wasn't ever too keen on me dating. Merlin, he's going to kill me if he finds out I'm dating a Malfoy.

Mum and the boys look slightly ashamed and begin offering small apologies to me.

I love Lily so much. She's my favorite.

XXXX

Around six, I head over to meet Scorpius. I knock on the door. "It's open," I hear him yell. As I let myself in I notice that it's just as clean as last night and then suddenly I'm overwhelmed by the amazing smell of food. "I'm in the kitchen."

I follow his voice and my jaw drops when I see the food. I can't believe my eyes. I hope he doesn't expect the two of us to be able to eat all of that. Scorpius laughs at my reaction and reaches over to push my chin back into place. "I remembered that you said you really like Thai food, so I thought I would cook some for you."

"Marry me," I gasp.

"What?" Thankfully, his back is turned at this moment so he doesn't hear me.

"Nothing. Wait a minute," I start looking around. "You made all this?" There are not enough dirty dishes.

"Yeah, of course," he starts setting the table.

"Oh really? That's impressive," I keep looking around.

"What are you looking for?" Scorpius cocks an eyebrow.

I look at him suspiciously. "Where did you learn to cook Thai food?"

"Well, that's not relevant. Wow," he exclaims. "I'm sorry, I was so busy preparing this wonderful food that I've been slaving over all day long that I didn't even stop to notice how lovely you look this evening."

I did actually put some effort into my appearance this evening, but still. I'm not buying it. "Don't change the subject. I don't think that you cooked this."

"I," he starts, looking flustered. "You," he tries again. He sighs and reaches for something. "You caught me," he holds up a bag full of take-out boxes. "Sorry. I didn't want you to figure it out so early in our relationship, but I can't actually cook. I remembered that you said you really like Thai food, though, so I ordered some!"

I laugh. He wasn't even trying to hide those boxes. "This is perfect," I assure him. I help him finish setting the table.

"Hey, look, it's your man purse!" I point to the corner.

"You are so cruel. What are you doing?"

"I'm comparing our purses, obviously," I say as I pick up the bag. "I'm just curious what you put in yours. I put my wallet, my brush, and other girly things in mine," I begin.

He holds out his hand and simply says, "Please." I give it to him. He puts it back down. "I keep my journals and most of my writings in here. Don't take any offense to this, but I'm really sensitive and protective about my writing."

"You do realize you're a journalist, right? Your stories get printed in the Daily Prophet and people tend to read what's in there."

"That's different. I mean that I'm sensitive about my personal writing. Maybe I'll show you one day," he places his hand on my shoulder, "but that's just too much of me to show to you right now."

"I can respect that."

"Thanks. So, how was your breakfast?"

"It was great."

"You weren't late were you?"

"I was, but only a little. And I got grilled for it. Lily made me tell her all about last night."

Scorpius nods. "I'm pretty sure I'm going to get a similar reaction when I go in for my coffee on Monday."

"Speaking of coffee," I murmur.

Scorpius snaps his fingers. "Right. Why don't you take a seat?" He pulls the chair out for me and I sit down.

"Hmm, this seems a little backwards, don't you think?" I comment.

"I personally think it's a refreshing change," he replies as he serves me.

"Oh, I wasn't complaining," I assure him.

He sits down across from me and we start eating.

He tells me about his day and I tell him about my trip to Diagon Alley with Lily.

"That's too bad about Lily not liking your idea. Honestly, if I were to have a fairy princess-themed birthday party, I would be so happy."

"Nice. I'll remember that."

"Please don't."

"No promises," I wink.

The food is delicious and I'm beginning to realize more and more how much I love talking to Scorpius. We have very similar senses of humor and he and I have personalities that compliment each other well; he's quiet and introspective whereas I'm more outgoing and I don't have a problem showing my emotions.

I'm not surprised when we only manage to eat half of the food he so diligently prepared. I help him clean up and we put the leftovers into the fridge. I still can't get over that, by the way. Scorpius Malfoy lives in a flat meant for muggles.

Around nine we decide to venture out and find something to eat for dessert. We grab some ice cream and take it to go. We walk around and end up outside of my place.

"This is home," I wave my arm at the building. "I live up there," I point to the third floor and then take a bite of my ice cream.

"Is it the one with the big, er, bowl in the window? Is that a bowl? A bouquet? What is that?"

"That's my cat. His name is Gregory."

"Are you sure? That thing is as big as the window. Is he part lion or something? And what kind of name is _Gregory_ for a cat?"

"He is not fat. He's big-boned and fluffy," I defend my cat's honor. "And the name Gregory suits him. You'll see. Would you like to meet him?"

"He's not going to eat me is he?"

I glare at Scorpius. "Don't make any sudden movements. And, if he gives you this look," I contort my face, "then it might be wise to offer him a bit of ham. I'll give you some and you can keep inside your pocket."

"You're so sweet," he puts his hand on the small of my back. "Shall we?" We walk upstairs together.

"Wait out here for just a minute," I say and then slip inside, shutting the door in his face. I'm not as thrilled about organization as he is and I don't want him to think badly of me. I do the best job of cleaning that one can do in thirty seconds or less and then open the door for Scorpius. He comes in laughing, but then flinches and covers his eyes.

"What?" I like to fold my laundry in this room and I'm horrified that I might have left a bra or a pair of panties somewhere. I look around but don't see anything very embarrassing.

"The books," he stares at his shoes.

I look around. "Which ones? I have books all over the place."

"Exactly," he says as if that explains everything.

"Oh, right," I can't help but smile to myself. "That's probably annoying you pretty badly that they aren't in any sort of order."

"You have no idea."

"Well, maybe on our next date I'll let you organize the books in whatever manner makes you feel comfortable. For now, though, I think it's too soon."

"I can't even look at this room right now. You are so cruel."

"And yet you're still here," I point out.

"What can I say? I'm a slow learner."

Well, my slightly overweight kitty doesn't eat Scorpius, but he does follow him around a suspicious amount. I make sure to put a bit of cat food into his dish. Just in case.

We share stories for a good long while. This time, however, we stay in the kitchen so that we don't risk falling asleep. After our third yawning battle, we decide that it's time for Scorpius to leave. We stand and walk into the other room to find Gregory.

"Bye Greg," Scorpius scratches his head.

"He doesn't like being called that," I warn dramatically.

As if to prove my point he swats at Scorpius.

"I apologize. Gregory," he corrects himself and looks at me. "And, you're right, after careful observations, that name does suit him."

We smile at each other and fall silent. Scorpius shoves his hands into his pockets and looks around the room. "With the exception of this room and the explosion of books," he shutters slightly, "I really like how you've decorated your flat," he finally comments. "It's very you."

"We had this conversation when you first walked in here. Remember?"

"Right," he blushes slightly. "Well, that was a few hours ago. Okay, well, I guess I should get going."

"Right. I guess I'll see you later, right?"

"Right. I'm going to visit my parents tomorrow so I'll see you for lunch on Monday."

"Okay."

"Okay," he says but doesn't make any effort to leave.

Lily's words race through my mind. Scorpius _is_ shy. But I'm shy too. At the same time, though, I don't want to wait. I make a move toward him.

And then I move slightly to the right to pet Gregory.

"I'm surprised he liked you," I say. "He usually tries to eat any guest that I bring home."

"Oh, maybe I smell funny."

"Well, I didn't want to say anything about that, but since you brought it up," I shrug.

He nods and smiles but doesn't look me in the eyes.

Okay, this time I'm going to make a move for real. "Scorpius," his head snaps up. I take a deep breath and then stretch my hand out toward him. "Thank you for dinner," I pull my hand back. "That was silly." A handshake? Really Rose? A handshake?

"No. No, not silly," he looks away again. "Rose?"

"Yes?"

"You're welcome. For dinner."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Merlin, this is so painfully awkward. Okay. Third time is a charm.

Before I can move, however, Scorpius speaks again. "Well, goodnight, I guess."

"Yeah, goodnight," I repeat.

"Bye," he says.

"Scorpius wait," I say.

"Yes?"

Okay, now or never.

I take a deep breath and step forward. I place my hands on his shoulders and kiss him on the lips. I step back. "Goodnight, Scorpius," I start to turn to walk away but he grabs my wrist. I turn around and he pulls me closer, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"Goodnight, Rose," he leans forward and lightly presses his lips to mine. Something tells me that he has changed his mind and is not quite ready to leave yet.

And I am so incredibly happy right now!

XXXX

That's it for the third installment! I tried to make that last part as awkward as possible, hence all the weird repeating each other. I hope it worked and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

By the by, I forgot to mention it before. I said it in my last story so I should say it here too. A few months ago I went home to visit my family and my darling baby sister thought it would be an awesome idea to rip the 'T' button off of my keyboard. So it doesn't always work properly. I usually proofread and catch those errors but just in case I type 'he' when I mean to type 'the' just know that I'm not completely incompetent.

Thanks for reviewing! **Strawberry-Swirls**, (Sweet! Glad to hear it. Teehee, those girls are going to drive Rose crazy, I think.) **BeanOwnsEnder**, (Dude, I don't know if I've ever had a guy review one of my stories before. I assume most are girls. This is kind of a big deal for me, lol. I'm psyched that you took the time to read this.) **Dramione-Fan 17**, (Thank you!) **Shiva'sGirl**, (Oh my, I don't know what to say. I'm flattered, lol. xruns aroundx She loves me! She really loves me! Mwahaha.) **SaraKlumHalpertBanks**, (Am I right to assume that the Halpert in your penname is in reference to my dearly beloved Jim? If it is, WOOT! I heart The Office. Anyway, good. I'm glad you thought that it was sweet. Phew.) **HarmonieFan**, (Why thank you!) **Lupin4Tonks**, (Don't kid yourself, cheekiness is awesome! And I think that the world would explode if I had those two girls meet up. That actually might be something interesting to see, lol.) **Willing to Learn**, (Thanks!) **Kat.1600**, (Why thank you.) **PadfootPatronus**, (You should feel loved! Oh, I didn't mean to imply that you were implying anything, lol. Oh yes, Scorpius is more the artsy type, not really the most suave guy around. I'm pretty sure that the meeting of Lily and Emily would be awesomely explosive. I can't wait to write that chapter, lol.) **chewing-gum-addicted**, (That'll be fun, having those two girls meet.) **FollowingTheInkTrail**, (Thank you, thank you! To tell the truth, the author of one of my most favorite fanfictions ever used to reply to reviews and I thought that was totally awesome. So I started doing it! I think it's fun. And thank you for the enthusiastic round of applause for that chapter. You make me happy! P.S. I'm pretty enthusiastic/hyperactive as well. I think it freaks people out sometimes, mwahaha.) **?**, (Good, good. Glad you thought my story was awesome!) and **thewandofdestiny**, (Why thank you! And Scorpius is rather sweet. Um, I've kind of forgotten about that story, actually. I lost interest in it. But, if you want me to, I can work on an update. I'll see what I can do, okey-dokey? Take care!)


	4. A Quick Fix

Hey ya'll! Just a note, on 12 August 2008, I revised the first three chapters of this story. I didn't do much to the first chapter. In the second chapter I gave a physical description of Emily and her coffee shop and I wrote more about Scorpius's flat. In the third chapter I added some more details about the conversation at the Weasley's, and also wrote a bit more about Rose's place. I got a couple reviews that pointed out that I don't get all that descriptive, and so I went back to jazz it up a bit. I think it gives a little more to the story. It might be worth the reread.

By the by, I'm sorry that I was MIA for a while there. I just… got sick of typing. I sit at a computer all day long at work and when I get home, that's the last thing that I want to do. But I don't want to give up on this story! I just took a much-needed break. (I seriously think that I might be developing carpal tunnel syndrome. Not to mention my back hurts from sitting all day. I'm a 20 year-old with the aches and pains of a 72 year-old.)

Don't Tell Dad I'm Dating A Malfoy

Chapter Four: A Quick Fix

I watch Lily pace back and forth in my kitchen. Every time that she turns and whips her head around her ginger hair flares out for a second before bouncing right back into place. She does it again. Again. Again. She stops in front of the window and looks at me. I straighten up in my chair, awaiting her words. She turns to start pacing again and I slouch back down, sighing.

She stops again and looks at me.

"I don't even believe you anymore," I pick up a book from my table and start flipping through it.

She starts tapping her nails against the counter in a staccato rhythm.

Slamming the book back onto the table, I lose my patience. "Lily! Say something!"

A small smile forms on her lips. "I'm so happy for you."

I roll my eyes. "Thanks. What else?"

"What?"

"I know that you didn't just pace back and forth for ten minutes and the only thing you thought of was that you're happy for me." I'd invited her over this morning to tell her about my date with Scorpius last night.

Her smile broadens. "I'm so proud of you too!" She squeals and raises her voice. "You kissed him. _You_ kissed _him_, Rose!"

"I know!" I match her volume as her enthusiasm fuels my own excitement.

"And you talked to him about the two of you!"

"And he agreed that, yes, we are officially dating!" I repeated the words I'd spoken earlier.

The next five minutes or so are filled with a noise that, to the untrained ear, might only sound like girly giggles and screeches. We both know exactly what the other is saying, though.

We return to a normal pitch and real English as Lily sits down across from me. "This is so great! Scorpius seems like a quality guy," her eyes get that distant, dreamy look.

"I think so too," I fold my hands and lay them on the table. "And that's what I wanted to talk to you about," I take a deep breath. "I'm worried. I really think that Scorpius and I could be happy together."

"That's awesome!" A look of concern suddenly wipes away her smile. "Why are you worried?"

"I have two words for you. Hugo. James," I hold up two fingers. "Dad. Albus. Uncle Harry. Uncle George. Fred," I hold up more fingers as I keep adding the names of my male relatives.

"Well, that's more than two words Rose," she states matter-of-factly. "And here I thought you were the smart one in the family."

"Fine. Those were names and didn't count. I have two real words. Our family."

"Much better," she approves with a nod. "And I couldn't agree with you more. Our family is a problem."

"What if, for some odd and unapparent reason, Scorpius wants to meet our family?"

"Tell him they're all dead?" She suggests.

"Lily."

"Or they're all on holiday for an undetermined amount of time. We're the only two that didn't go."

"You're so helpful," I begin rubbing my temples. I feel a headache coming on.

"I do my best," she replies brightly.

"Seriously, Lily. I need to figure this out. What should I do? You know that neither Hugo nor my dad is going to be happy about me dating, never mind the fact that it's Scorpius Malfoy. And, by the way, what was with them trying to fix me up with people yesterday?"

"I was just thinking about that. How strange? I would never expect our brothers to set you up with someone on purpose. Do you think," she begins. "No. They wouldn't," her features darken.

"What?"

"Well, it's weird, isn't it? A few days after you mention that Scorpius asked you out they all of a sudden want you to start dating someone," she says slowly, letting each word sink in. "I, for one, don't think that that was a coincidence. I'm willing to bet they would have you date someone they've chosen rather than a Malfoy."

I could see them doing that.

"Well, obviously I'm not going to date Eric Schmidt or Chris Allen."

"Obviously," she agrees fervently.

For a moment, I thought that I might try to appease my brother by going on a date with one or the other, and perhaps that would keep him from getting suspicious, but the idea of going out with someone other than Scorpius (whether for show or otherwise) did not appeal to me in the least. No. There would be no pretending.

"So then what should I do? If Scorpius does want to meet our family, what should I say? 'I'm sorry. You probably shouldn't ever see them. They hate you.' That's not a good thing for a girlfriend to do, Lily. At least not this early in our relationship," it's my turn to stand and pace the room. "This isn't fair. Scorpius is so nice and he does not deserve that," I can hear my voice gaining volume as it becomes more and more indignant. "And Scorpius is so nice that there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that, if we keep dating, he will at least want to talk to my parents. I'd hate to be responsible for turning any of my relatives into murderers."

"Calm down Rose, we'll think of something."

"How can you be so sure?"

She stands and walks to my side. Placing her hands on either side of my face she forces me to look into her eyes. "Because we always do," she leans forward and our foreheads touch. "Listen to me. Are you listening?"

My eyes are crossed as I try to keep eye contact and I let out a small giggle. When we were younger, we were a rowdy couple of girls who couldn't stay focused for more than a minute at a time. We used to do this if we had something important to say. "You have my full attention."

"Scorpius. Is. Wonderful," she emphasizes each word. "We are going to make this work for you. I've got a plan. Granted, it's not going to fix all of our problems, but it should buy us some time. We'll figure this out," she assures me.

I don't know what I would do if I didn't have Lily.

XXXX

By Monday, Lily's plan is in motion. She comes into Nathaniel's promptly at eleven o'clock and sits at Scorpius's usual table. I bring her some soda as she pulls out a magazine. She's still looking for ideas for her dad's party.

"I told you that he doesn't normally come until around noon."

Lily arches an eyebrow as she looks up at me. "I don't know, Rose. I get the feeling that I won't have to wait long. I'm actually surprised that he didn't beat me here."

"What do you mean?"

"I bet he's dying to see you," her eyes begin to glaze over wistfully. "You'll see."

So, I think that Lily really missed her calling as far as Divination goes. Not ten minutes after she says that to me Scorpius arrives. We smile at each other and then I look at his table. Lily gives me that smug look that I've come to know and hate before she turns her head toward the door.

"What a coincidence, Scorpius Malfoy!" She beams as she greets him. "It's been a while. Why don't you sit down and we'll have lunch together." Apparently she wasn't going for any sort of subtlety.

"Lily," he nods in her direction. "It's good to see you. You're sure you don't mind?"

"Not at all, have a seat," she encourages.

"Hi Scorpius," I give him a glass of water and a menu. "I see Lily has commandeered you."

"Hey," Lily pouts, pretending to be offended by my choice of words.

Scorpius glances from Lily to me. "So what's going on here?" he inquires, the hint of a smile on the corner of his lips.

"What do you mean?" Lily and I say at the same time. That wasn't suspicious at all.

"In all the time I've been coming to Nathaniel's for lunch, not once have I seen Lily here. Not that I'm not glad to see you," he assures her quickly. "But is it already time for the interrogation? I was expecting something like this but not this soon."

"You saw right through me," Lily sounds slightly disappointed.

"Trust me. This isn't my doing," I raise my hands. "She's rather insistent. But I'll be right back. I have to go take care of something."

I hear Lily begin asking questions right away. I almost feel bad for Scorpius. Almost.

I return moments later, just in time to hear Scorpius say, "You should really meet my friend Emily."

I bite my bottom lip to keep from laughing out loud.

"How are we doing over here?" I make my presence known.

"Great!" Lily exclaims.

"Does that mean that he passes the first round?" I ask jokingly.

"Yep!" Lily answers as Scorpius says, "First round? There's more?"

"You're lucky that I got to you first," Lily tells him with the hint of a warning in her voice. "Trust me, you don't want to deal with anybody else in our family quite yet."

"Is that right?"

"Definitely."

"Lily is the only one who knows about us as of right now," I admit.

"I honestly can't blame you for not telling anyone else yet," she says to me before turning back to Scorpius. "Our family is completely mental. You should be glad that Rose is shielding you from their wrath right now. Hell, I'd gotten dumped by at least three guys before I realized that the real reason that they didn't want to date me anymore was that they got scared and ran away. It's what happens when a girl in the Weasley clan introduces a boy too soon."

"I wouldn't run away," Scorpius smiles at me and I can't help but blush.

"Darling," Lily places a hand lightly on his shoulder. "That's what they all say. Trust me. You don't want the family hassling you before you even get to know each other properly."

"Right," I interject. "It'll be easier for me to convince you to stick around if we've had some time together first. Come to think of it, though, I really wish I had introduced my last boyfriend much sooner. That would have saved me _a lot_ of trouble if he'd gotten scared away."

We share a laugh. Lily adds more to that comment. "Truthfully, I have, in the past, purposely introduced a few guys too soon. I didn't have to feel guilty about dumping them, and they just left on their own. I was glad to be rid of them."

"So, let me get this straight," Scorpius furrows his brows. "The longer it takes for me to meet the family the better?"

"Not necessarily," I say cautiously.

"Remember Jacob?" Lily chimes.

"He was one to be embarrassed about," I state matter-of-factly. "He was quite the buffoon, as it were."

Lily giggles, "Buffoon does not even begin to describe him. In my defense," she turns to me and I notice that her cheeks are slightly pink. "I was young and I was just so excited to have a boy interested in me, I didn't care how he acted around me. I would never have told my family about him."

"_Young_? It was last year," I remind her.

"Well, then, I was young-_er_, wasn't I?"

"So, if it doesn't take very long to meet your family it's a bad thing, but if it takes too long to meet your family, that's also a bad thing. How do I know how long is just long enough then?"

"You don't," Lily gets way too excited when she answers.

I roll my eyes. "Trust me, Scorpius. You don't have to worry about it. You'll know when it's the proper time," I say, leaving the two of them there so that I might return to work.

That comment seems to please Scorpius.

Lily is a genius. She's right that this wouldn't be a permanent solution, but it would definitely delay the inevitable. Hopefully, by then, I'll have found a way to show my family the good side of Scorpius Malfoy. Hopefully.

Scorpius orders a sandwich and Lily orders a salad. I try to spend as much time as I can manage at their table but it's getting more and more difficult as the lunch rush arrives. I suppose that's okay, though. Lily is definitely keeping Scorpius entertained.

I feel so happy right now. I can't remember the last time that I felt this way. From the kitchen, I peek around the corner to catch a glimpse of Scorpius and Lily. Lily, as per usual, is sharing an anecdote that apparently requires extremely animated gesticulations. Scorpius watches and listens, reacting to her story at all the proper times, smiling all the while.

I'm excited all of a sudden. I'm excited to get to know him better, to learn more about him, to spend more time with him, and even to meet his family. I can see this being something very good.

I return to their table with the check. Scorpius already has his wallet out. "I have to get going," he explains. "I'm running a bit late. I didn't realize how long we'd been talking, I was really enjoying myself," he tells Lily. His face is sincere when he says this. "Thanks for having lunch with me, and it was really good to see you again."

"Good to see you too," she perks up in her chair.

"Rose, if you aren't busy after work tonight, I was wondering if you'd like to get coffee with me."

I sigh. "I don't know if I can tonight. Lily and I are supposed to go with James to," I don't even get the chance to finish telling him my plans for the night.

"I'll cover for you," Lily waves her hand dismissively.

"Lily, I-"

"Rose," she says sternly, glaring at me. I shift uncomfortably. Her demeanor changes quickly as she smiles brightly. "I said that I would cover for you. I'm sorry. I think I may have monopolized the conversation today. Very important matters, though, you understand?" She asks Scorpius.

"Oh, of course," he plays along.

"So you two should go and spend a few hours together after work. We'll just meet later, okay?"

"You're the best Lily." And I mean it.

"I never get sick of hearing that."

"It's settled then. I'll meet you here after work tonight, Rose."

"Okay," my smile widens and I can feel my heart beat slightly faster.

"Hey, Lily, you should come get coffee with us one of these days," he says standing up. "I'm completely serious that I think you should meet my friend Emily."

"I'd love to! Let me know when will be a good time. Bye Frank!" She waves at him and winks at me.

"Lily," I scold playfully. "Remind me later to explain to you the purpose of a code name, okay?" I whisper so that Scorpius can't hear.

She grins impishly.

I walk Scorpius to the door. "Did she just call me Frank?"

"Yeah. I'll explain it to you later. Or maybe I won't."

He can only laugh. "She's quite the character."

"That's a nice way of putting it. I'll see you tonight," I touch his shoulder and let my hand slide slowly down his arm. He holds my hand in his and leans in quickly to kiss my cheek.

"See you then."

XXXX

That's it for the fourth chapter. Again, I apologize for letting this go for so long without an update. I'm seriously typing with one hand right now. Ugh. The prospect of sitting in this uncomfortable chair while my hand and fingers weren't feeling too spectacular was not at all appealing to me. I was very unmotivated to write anything, but I'll get over that. Hope you enjoyed this!

P.S. I promise that I will not leave this story unfinished forever. I just might be a bit slower for a while. Please bear with me.

Thanks for reviewing! **thewandofdestiny**, (Aw, I'm glad that you got so excited about all that! As for my other story, I'm still trying to work out the kinks. The whole thing with them being wizards is kind of making it difficult. Certain things just don't make sense. I'll figure it out, though!) **HarmonyFan**, (Thanks a bunch!) **doing 25 life in Azkaban**, (Oh yes, let us all tease our guy friends about their man purses.) **Dramione-Fan 17**, (Thank you, thank you.) **SaraKlumHalpertBanks**, (Yeah, I'm going to marry Jim Halpert. Woohoo, Season 5 starts soon!) **Strawberry xx**, (Yay for awkwardness!) **Kat.1600**, (Glad you liked it!) **Lupin4Tonks**, (Glad you liked the kiss! I think that the girls will meet in the next chapter. Maybe. It's coming, anyway.) **FollowingTheInkTrail**, (Yeah, the awkwardness wasn't too difficult to convey. I've had plenty of that type of run-ins. Yeah, Gregory is pretty awesome, and I'm totally jealous that you know someone like Lily. I took qualities from my closest friends to create her, but to have her in one person in real life… whoa. Haha. Aw, olive juice too!) **chewing-gum-addicted**, (Teehee, I was worried they wouldn't kiss either. Gosh, Scorpius needs to be more outgoing.) **Beauty Eclipsed**, (Sorry that this update took forever.) **PadfootPatronus**, (Hey dude, sorry about the ridiculously long time it took for the update. Anyway, yeah… it's okay by me if you keep saying that you love Scorpius. I won't lie, anytime that I make him do something cute/sweet/endearing in a story, I'm all about getting happy and professing my own love for our fictional boy, lol. Um, it probably made me a little too happy when you said that the plot line with the boys setting her up with someone is a 'keeper'. I felt super clever. I guess I'm sounding pretty conceited too, lol. And that is totally awesome if Lily reminds you of yourself. I took qualities from my closest friends to make her, and that is definitely how I _wish_ I could be. Anyway… sorry again!) **deliriousdobby**, (Haha, no, definitely not second date topic. And Lily is awesome!) **BeanOwnsEnder**, (I sent you a private message, and I hope that my lack of updates hasn't deterred you from reading my story!) **Shiva'sGirl**, (Why, thank you darling! Sorry I didn't get this up here sooner.) **–Argentinita-**, (Glad that story about my little sister amused you, lol. Yeah… I have three younger sisters and I'm going to have to go ahead and disagree with you about the getting better with years things. One did, one didn't, and the baby is still undecided, lol. Anyway, yeah, the shy boy thing gets on my nerves too.) **hondagirl**, (Hey there, I know you hate these things… Well, we've already sent a few PMs back and forth… Looking forward to reading more of your story! Thanks again for all the awesome advice! Take care.) **brokenstitches**, (Why, thank you!) and **RedWingNut**, (Yeah, I'm still not completely sold one way or the other about Harry's birthday party. The princess thing is still an option. We'll see! Thanks for the review!)


	5. A Compulsion

Hey there. I'm really truly sorry about how long it took for this update. I've been in a creative rut of sorts. I've started writing a few other HP stories (haven't posted any, experience shows me that I need to have a story finished/nearly finished before I post) and I've also been working on a few original things, but I started feeling guilty about this so I made myself sit down and write.

It's not much, but I hope this short little chapter kind of lights a fire under my butt and makes me pay more attention to this story.

Don't Tell Dad I'm Dating a Malfoy

Chapter Five: A Compulsion

"Or we could alphabetize them," Scorpius runs a hand through his hair.

I stare blankly.

"Or we could arrange them by size."

I blink.

"Or we could separate them by genre," he turns to look around the room. I see him shudder slightly as his eyes scan the books laying about the room with no sense of organization. I fight back a smile. Apparently Scorpius is a little obsessive compulsive, and I am quite the opposite. I don't have to keep everything in order to know where something is.

"Rose, I could use a bit of input on this."

I don't move.

He places his hands on my shoulders. "Rose. What do you think we should do?"

"Er, you're confusing me."

"It's not a difficult concept. All we have to do is figure out how to organize this mess," he starts.

"There you go again, confusing me."

"What's so confusing about this?"

I can't help it as the corner of my mouth lifts in a smirk. "You keep saying 'we' as if I'm going to have anything to do with this nonsense."

He sighs and tousles my hair playfully. "You are something. Fine. I'm going to do this. Without you."

I laugh and fall onto my couch. "Ah, that's more like it." Gregory flops heavily onto my lap and begins to purr as I pet his back.

"This girl is impossible. I don't know how you live with her," Scorpius scratches Gregory's ears. Gregory, the little traitor, mews as if he agrees.

Scorpius and I have been together now for a couple weeks, and he somehow managed to convince me that he couldn't keep coming over when my living room looked like a library vomited all over it. His words, not mine.

Scorpius goes to work right away, talking to himself as he piles the books in the center of the room. Well, in his defense, he thinks that he's talking to me. I, however, have nothing to add to the conversation about what he thinks is the best way to organize this mess. Instead, I offer to go get some coffee for the two of us. I pick up a book on my way to the kitchen and set it down again.

"Rose," he warns darkly.

"What?" I ask innocently.

He sighs. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave if you're going to impede the process," he picks up romance novel that I had just moved over to the murder/suspense pile.

"You're going to ask me to leave? I live here."

"Hmm," he crosses his arms. "Point well made. Rose, can we make a deal?"

I raise a brow. "Possibly."

"Could you please promise me that you'll just let me do this?" His eyes drop to the floor and he shoves his hands in his pockets. "I just want these books to be organized. It drives me crazy when things aren't in order. It's one of my quirks," he shrugs. "I can't help it."

With an exaggerated sigh, I agree. "Okay."

He looks at me suspiciously. "Really?"

All of a sudden, I'm reminded of our time at Hogwarts. Scorpius and I had been paired together for a potion one day in our sixth year when half the class was in the hospital wing thanks to a bad batch of a Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes product. It was Hugo's fault, really. He brought in a box of something that Uncle George had been working on. It wasn't ready for commercial use yet, evident by the amount of students with hives, boils, and fevers. So Scorpius and I were partners. I remember him cringing every time that he looked at my side of the desk. I had my share of the ingredients all over the place, and there were so many papers sticking out of my book. His side of the table, on the other hand, was perfect. His notes were in a neat little pile, his ingredients were arranged nicely in the order we would need them, even his book was flush with the edge of the table.

Old habits die hard, I suppose.

"Really," I assure him. "I promise."

"And please promise me that you'll try your best to keep it organized. I mean, if it's a bit out of order because you just read something, I can deal with that. But please don't wait until I leave and then switch everything up again."

I laugh at the serious expression on his face. "What makes you think I would have done something like that?" Because I was totally planning on it. I just want to know how he knew.

"I know you."

"Touché. Okay, Scorpius. I promise that I will keep it organized. And I will no longer hinder the process, either. I will, however, continue to tease you mercilessly for your obsessive behavior."

"I figured as much," he shakes his head and turns around to hide the smile that had just crept onto his lips.

In the kitchen, I grab two mugs out of the cupboard. One is a plain, grey color. The other has pink and yellow flowers on it. I put cream and sugar into the grey one, and I fix the other one to Scorpius's liking.

"Here you go," I give him his coffee.

He looks at the flowery mug in his hand and then eyes the one that I'm now sipping from. "You think you're so funny, don't you?"

"What?" I sit down on the couch.

He rolls his eyes and sits next to me. "I like to think that you do these things to me as a show of your affections."

There's a knock on the door then, so I set my coffee down and start leaping over piles of books. "Who is it?" I sing.

"It's Sabrina the teenage witch," comes a familiar voice.

"Who?" Scorpius looks confused.

"It's a reference to an American TV show," I explain, opening the door. Lily bursts through.

"You've never heard of Sabrina Spellman?" She asks, indignant.

"Not everybody has the bizarre hobby of tracking everything to do with magic that the muggles put on TV," I defend Scorpius. "What's going on? I didn't know you'd be over this early," I check my watch.

She ignores me. "Wow, it looks nice in here," her sarcasm is subtle as she navigates around my books. "Rose, you didn't have to clean up because I was coming over," she flops onto the chair where Gregory is currently resting on the arm. He falls into Lily's lap and purrs happily as she scratches his head.

"I'm organizing," Scorpius explains. "This place was chaotic and it was driving me crazy."

_Was_ chaotic? I look around noting that the only place the floor is actually present is where a clever path had been cleared from this room to the kitchen.

Lily looks shocked. "I will bet you ten galleons that it can't stay like this," she says to him.

I throw a pillow at Lily's head. "I will keep it clean!"

"Yeah, okay," she laughs. "So," her face becomes more serious. "The party is in five days, and we still don't have a theme," she pulls out a notebook she'd been using to make all the plans.

We haven't had any luck with this. As it turns out, we really aren't very creative people. I consider this for a moment. "I think I have a great idea."

"I'm open to anything at this point," she says, suddenly looking tired. "What should the theme be?"

"Birthday party."

She blinks. "What?"

"_Surprise_ Birthday party?"

Lily closes her notebook and grins widely. "Perfect. Let's go with it."

"Really?" Scorpius and I both say at the same time.

"Sure. Dad's too old for a theme anyway."

"Or he's not old enough. Wait until he's fifty. That'll be a good party," Scorpius offers.

"Good point," Lily agrees. "We're going to have the party at Grandma and Grandpa's, Al and Hugo sent out the invitations a week ago, and James said he could take care of the food. Are you free later? I'd like to go shopping and pick up as much as we can tonight."

"Sure. How about six?"

"Perfect," she stands up, upsetting Gregory who flops onto the floor looking annoyed. Lily looks at Scorpius. "I'm not stealing her away from you, am I?"

"Not at all. I go to my parents' for dinner on Sundays. I just hope I can get this place cleaned up by then," he looks around the room.

"Hey, it was clean before you started pulling books of the shelf," I tease him.

"No, it wasn't," both he and Lily say.

I throw my hands up in defeat. Thanks a lot for being on my side, Lily.

"You don't have to leave yet," I tell her. "Why don't you come have a cup of coffee with me and we'll talk. We'll leave Scorpius in here. I think I was bothering him earlier."

"That's not surprising," she says with a smile, following me into the kitchen. I grab my grey mug off the table and Lily turns around to look at Scorpius.

"Hey, nice mug Scorpius. Those flowers are pretty. How cute."

Lily is my favorite.

XXXX

Scorpius drags me into the room, his hand over my eyes, so that I can see all of his (self-induced) hard work. Lily had left already because she had left something at home she needed to grab before we go shopping.

"Keep your eyes closed," he sounds so excited. "Hold out your hands," I do as he asks and he places a book in my hands. "Okay, now, open your eyes."

I cannot believe what I am seeing. Are those my books? In my bookshelf? "Is this my flat? I don't even recognize it."

"Good, right?"

"Good? It's amazing! I can't believe it! I didn't know books could look like this outside of a library or a bookstore."

"We're going to my flat tomorrow so that I can show it's not just a fluke," he wraps his hands around mine. "And you can place the last book where it belongs."

"Are you sure I should be allowed to do that?" I whisper.

He laughs and points straight ahead. "I think you can handle it."

I take a step forward, noticing that the books are arranged by genre. I look down at the one in my hand. Travel. I have at least a dozen travel books that I've marked and made notes in. A horrible thought crosses my mind and I open the book quickly. I breathe a sigh of relief.

"What's wrong?" Scorpius is now standing beside me.

"I was afraid you'd thrown away the papers I'd stuck in here," I look at him suspiciously. "I wasn't sure exactly how obsessive compulsive you actually were."

He grabs the book from me and sits down on the couch. "I wouldn't have thrown these out. I did look through a few of them, though. Are you planning a trip?"

I laugh. "Ever since I was sixteen."

"You haven't gone to any of these places yet?"

"No," I cross my arms in front of my chest and look up at the ceiling. "It's silly. When would I have the time? And I'm not even sure why I want to go to any of those places, I just… I just want to _go,_" I say, unsure how to explain it any better than that.

"You can make time to go," Scorpius says thoughtfully. "You must have some vacation saved up. Maybe we can go to one of these places this summer."

I smile as my heart speeds up. I can just imagine traveling with Scorpius. We would have so much fun together! "That might be nice. Where would you like to go?"

He shakes his head. "This isn't about where _I_ want to go. Where would _you_ like to go?"

"How does everywhere sound?" It's true. It would be easier to list the places that I don't want to go.

"Sounds like we'll need to talk about it a bit more before we make any decisions. Not right now, though. It's almost time for me to go," he looks at his watch but doesn't get up.

I take the book from him and place it on the shelf. I run my fingers over the other titles I have up there. _One day,_ I promise myself. _One day._

I turn to Scorpius who is now playing with Gregory. The fat cat is sitting on his hind legs and swatting at the toy Scorpius is dangling above him.

"Thank you for doing this for me, Scorpius. I promise that I will do my best to keep it neat like this."

"Yeah, and I'll be around to check your integrity," he smiles warmly.

There's a knock at the door and a muffled voice calls through. "It's Lily! Let me in!"

"Oh, I'd almost forgotten," I say as I walk to the door.

She rushes in. "Glad to see you guys cleaned this place up," she says in a way of greeting Scorpius. "I have to pee!" She hurries down the hall.

Scorpius and I share an amused look. "Time to go plan a party," I say as Scorpius stands. He looks uneasy. "What's wrong?" I've known him long enough to recognize that look. Something is on his mind.

"Can I go?" He asks, surprising me. "I mean, would it be okay with you if we went to Harry's party together?"

I'm not sure what to say to this. "Scorpius," I start. "We talked about this. My family-"

"Your family doesn't know me," he says evenly, never raising his voice. "I think I should meet them. As your boyfriend. I think they might even like me."

"You will. And they will. But not yet."

I had sensed his uneasiness when Lily and I had first suggested that we wait. Now I know for sure that he doesn't like all of this secrecy. But what am I supposed to do? I know my family, and I know how they'll react if I don't prepare them properly. I don't want them to ruin things for Scorpius and I.

"Then when, Rose? I understand that you don't want anything to come between us, but sooner or later, keeping it a secret is going to do just that. I don't mean to sound cold, but I just want to know when we can stop hiding. I _want_ people to know about us." His voice isn't accusing, and it isn't angry. He is just curious, in a sad sort of way.

And that only makes me feel guilty. This isn't fair to Scorpius.

"Do you want to give me deadline?" I suggest, only half jokingly.

His eyes fall. "No. I don't want to give you a deadline, Rose. I just," he sighs. "I want you to tell your family when you feel comfortable enough to do so," he leans in and plants a kiss on my cheek before opening the door. He looks away as he says, "I just hope that it's sooner rather than later. I'll see you tomorrow. Tell Lily I say goodbye."

He closes the door behind him and I'm left alone.

"Why does Gregory always follow me into the bathroom? Do you keep the cat food in there?" Lily asks from down the hall, reminding me that I'm not quite as alone as I'd thought.

XXXX

That's the end of the chapter. I tried my best not to make it seem like Scorpius is a jerk, because he's not. He's just excited about being with Rose, and he wants to shout it from the mountains! …Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this update.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed the fourth chapter! I hope that, if you did stick with me, you're not too angry about the ridiculous time it took for this update. As always, I appreciate anything you have to say. Especially about this chapter, it was a bit difficult to write for some reason. Anyway… Take care!


	6. It's a Deal

Oi, that was still a long time to wait for an update, but I'm getting a bit better. I just had to get back into the groove of concentrating on one project at a time. Enjoy!

Don't Tell Dad I'm Dating a Malfoy

Chapter Six: It's a Deal

"You're late," I say to Scorpius as he greets me with a kiss. I'd been standing outside of the coffee shop for nearly ten minutes waiting for him.

He shakes his head and grabs my wrist. "Your watch is early. I'm on time," he compares our watches and, according to his, he _is_ on time.

"Fine. I'll let it slip this once, I suppose."

"Oh, you're so generous. How did I ever get so lucky?"

"Some people are just born that way, I guess. Hey, you brought your man-purse!"

"Yes, I brought my _satchel_. I was on an assignment, and I didn't have time to drop it off at the office. If I had, I would have been late for real."

We walk into the coffee shop, laughing with each other.

"Rose! Scorpius! What are you two doing here?" Emily shouts when she sees us. Her hair has changed since the first time I came here. Now her long black hair has chunky red highlights rather than blue streaks. Today it's pulled up into a messy bun. "I've never seen you in here for lunch."

"Hi Emily," I walk up to the counter as she begins making my coffee for me. "I took the day off. My friend Vivian is covering for me."

"That's nice. Why did you take off?" She snaps her fingers. "Oh, I remember. Today's your uncle's birthday party, right?"

"That's right."

"Oh, fun!" She bounces slightly as she begins making Scorpius's drink. I can't imagine how that girl has so much energy.

"I hope so. We worked so hard to get it together _and_ to keep it a secret, it had better be fun."

"I'm sure it will be. Are you going, Scorpius?" She hands us our mugs.

"No. I have other things to do," he says casually as he pulls out his wallet. "Can we get a couple sandwiches?" He points to the display advertising their new gourmet sandwich.

"Oh, right," she giggles. "You're here for lunch. Coffee isn't a proper lunch I guess, is it?"

"Hear that, Rose?" Scorpius elbows me lightly. "Coffee isn't a proper lunch."

"Hey, I usually eat lunch. I'm just so busy sometimes that I forget about it. It's not as if I drink coffee as a substitute for food," I say defensively.

"I can understand that," Emily comments. "Some days I have so much going on up here," she points to her head, "I forget to listen to what's going on down here," she pats her belly. "Did you know I have another job?"

"No, I didn't," I look at Scorpius, who is just as surprised as I am.

She nods. "I work at a nursing home in the morning. It's hard, but I enjoy it. You wouldn't believe how many different pills there are that treat the same damn thing. I have all of my patients' medical records memorized. I'm always buzzing from one room to the other."

"I didn't know that," I repeat.

She shrugs. "I have to do it. It's the only way I can support Amelia and me. It's frustrating at times, of course, but I like to keep busy." She says all this with her same bright smile.

"You're amazing Emily," Scorpius says sincerely.

"Amelia's your little sister?" I remember Scorpius mentioning that he'd seen the little girl a couple of times.

"Sister?" She laughs. "Amelia is my daughter."

Before I can help myself, my mouth opens and an ever so tactful "No way," comes out. "You have a daughter? How old are you?"

She laughs again. "I'm twenty-three. I'll be twenty-four in September. My mum watches Amelia during the day, but she's about to start first grade so that will give my mother a break."

I look Emily up and down again. She's so tiny! I would never have believed she was older than twenty, let alone a mother!

"How old did you think I was?"

"I thought you might be eighteen," I answer, still unable to believe.

"Perfect. I'm hoping that people keep thinking that all the way through my thirties."

"For as long as we've known each other," Scorpius says, "I can't believe I never knew you had a daughter."

"I talk about her all the time."

"But you call her Amelia. I just figured she was your younger sister."

We all share a laugh and Scorpius and I take our usual seats by the window. He hangs his satchel over the back of the chair before he sits. He reaches for my hand across the table.

"How was your morning?" I ask. His hand lingers a moment longer before we release each other and begin eating.

"Dull. I spent hours in the office revising a few articles and then I went to interview some cranky old witch. The muggles are trying to make her move so that they can build another road through there. She was an angry old thing, but she was entertaining as you can imagine. She told me she was waiting for the Ministry's approval for her to move her house over a few dozen meters."

I stifle a giggle. "Does she really think they'll approve?"

"She's hoping they do," he takes a drink. "How are the plans for the birthday coming along?"

"Only time will tell," I say. "He's still clueless, but there are a few more hours for someone to slip up."

"Don't worry about it so much," he grabs my hand again and squeezes gently.

We sit and eat silently. Emily bounces around behind the counter, tending to the lunch hour rush as some other girl behind the counter whom I've never seen before struggles to keep up. I catch Scorpius's eye and I smile. Today he's wearing a white button-up shirt with black slacks. His sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, something he does whenever he eats. My eyes fall upon his satchel.

"When will you let me read something?"

"You subscribe to The Daily Prophet. You always read my work."

"You know what I mean. I want to read something in there," I point to his bag. "I want to read something no one else has ever read."

He grabs a napkin and wipes his mouth. "You want to read something no one else has ever read? Well, that would be impossible. Sorry."

"What? Why?"

A smirk works it's way onto his lips. "I've read everything I've written. Sorry, it just happens."

I roll my eyes. "Oh, you're so funny. Seriously Scorpius. Show me something that you've never shown to anyone else before. Please?"

"I'll go get you some more coffee. I could use some too," he grabs our mugs and stands.

"Scorpius."

He turns his back to me. "I'll think about it, okay? I'm just not ready to share that yet. But I will."

I reach out and gently place my hand on the small of his back. "I can live with that."

He turns his head to look at me. "Thank you."

XXXX

The lights in the house are all turned off. Everybody is in the backyard. The setting sun casts little light on the gathering, but that's fine. I can hear voices in the house. "Maybe they're back here," I hear Aunt Ginny's voice as the kitchen light turns on. She opens the back door and I nod to her. "Harry! Harry, come quickly!" She shouts. In a matter of seconds Uncle Harry comes running, wand drawn, expecting the worst.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

There's yelling, laughter, whooping, and somewhere in the back Uncle George sets off a round of fireworks.

Uncle Harry takes a deep breath before he begins laughing. He wraps his arms around Aunt Ginny and pulls her close to him for a kiss. The guests begin gathering around them to talk while I found my mother. We begin lighting the floating lanterns we'd gotten to light the yard. "I think he was genuinely surprised," mum says to me. "We haven't been able to surprise him in years."

"Well, I guess it was a good idea to have a decoy party. We told him that a few of us were gathering here for a little birthday dinner for him, and he had no idea that we'd invited the entire family _and_ his friends," we keep moving along. "So, in a way, he was actually expecting a party, just not this one."

"Ginny looks pleased."

She certainly does. I watch as she greets the guests and thanks them for coming. Every once in a while she turns her eyes to her husband and smiles. Lily bounces around them no doubt telling her dad about all the trouble it was to keep this party a secret. Lily looks so much like her mother. They both have the same ginger hair, though Lily's is long and her mum's is cut in a short bob. They have the same fair, freckled skin and they're even the same height.

Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny approach me. "Hey," he hugs me. "I heard you helped with this. Thanks Rosie. Everything looks great."

"Of course. It was no trouble at all," Aunt Ginny gives me a hug and whispers thanks to me as well.

He scoffs. "Lily tells it a different way."

"No!" Lily interrupts. "Rose is just too polite to tell you how frustrating it was. And besides, she didn't have to see you every day and keep it a secret."

"True enough," he concedes. "Well, I'll see you girls around," he wanders off to talk to others and Aunt Ginny follows.

"So, how's Frank?" Lily turns to me. I look around quickly.

"He's doing well. We got together for lunch today."

"I thought you took off work."

"I did. We went to our coffee shop."

"I see. I haven't seen him in a while. Tell Frank I say hi the next time you see him."

Before I can answer we hear, "Who's Frank?"

Hugo is coming toward us with Albus.

"Did you get a new cat?" Albus asks. "That sounds like something _you_ would name a cat."

"No," Lily says. "Frank's someone she talks about from work."

Hugo eyes us suspiciously. "I've never heard you talk about him."

"Girl Talk," Lily says dismissively. I'm so glad I have her around to answer these questions for me. I know I would have stuttered my way through an awful explanation. "Well, we've got some things to do. See you guys around," she grabs my arm and drags me into a crowd of people.

I'm about to tell her thanks when I feel a hand on my shoulder. "Oh, hi James," I say, a bad feeling in my gut.

"Do you remember Eric Schmidt?" It's then that I notice the person standing next to him. "He was in my year. He works with me at the Ministry now."

"Good to see you again, Rose," Eric shakes my hand. He looks a bit different than when I last saw him. He might have grown an inch, but he's a bit chubbier than I remember. Not fat, but he's definitely not the thin little boy I knew in school. He has dark eyes and unruly brown hair. There is a bit of stubble on his face.

"Yeah. Good to see you," a knot forms in my stomach.

"Lily," James says. "I have something I need to talk to you about. Could you come here for a second?"

Lily and I exchange looks. We can see right through that. "I have something I need to talk with Rose about. And I think it might possibly be more important. Good to see you again, Eric," she says and pulls me along behind her again.

"I cannot believe him!" She shouts. "Was he seriously trying to hook you up with him? And using our dad's birthday party as an excuse to invite him?"

"I didn't think they were serious. Do I really seem that pathetic that I look like I need help getting a boyfriend?" I have a boyfriend! Oh, poor Scorpius. What would he think?

"Oh no," Lily has a shocked expression on her face. "Isn't that Chris Allen?" I follow her gaze and, sure enough, there he is. "Hey," she says. "He's actually really cute. I wonder what he's been up to."

"Lily! You know why he's here, right?"

"Oh, right," she says, but she's still looking at him. "Wasn't he really dorky in school? My, my, this last year has been good to him."

"Lily!"

"Okay," she snaps out of it. "New plan. Er, you just avoid Eric Schmidt like the plague, and I'll go and distract Chris Allen."

"Brilliant, Lily."

"I thought so," she starts to wander over toward him and all I can do is stare with disbelief. Well, I suppose I can believe it. Chris does seem her type. He's tall and lean with long black hair cut just above his shoulders and the prettiest blue eyes, I admit, that I have ever seen on a boy.

I see Eric Schmidt again. He smiles at me and waves. I can't take this anymore. I look around and find my parents standing next to each other. "Mum, can I talk to you?"

She follows me away from the people. "I'm not feeling well," I tell her. "I think I'm going to go home early."

"Are you sure?" she lifts her hand to my forehead.

"It's my stomach. Yeah, I'm sure. If anybody asks, just let them know that I think I'm coming down with something."

"Do you want me to come over later to make sure you're okay?"

"No. I think I'll just go to sleep," I lie. "I love you, mum," I kiss her cheek. "Have fun."

As I leave, I see Lily and Chris talking to each other. I smile.

XXXX

My stomach really does hurt by the time I reached the door. But I don't let that stop me. I knock twice.

I hear footsteps before the door swings open. "Rose?" He's surprised to see me. He looks at his watch. "Shouldn't you be at the party?"

"Scorpius."

He looks up at me, waiting for me to continue.

"Can we talk?"

"Of course," he moves aside to let me in. He's wearing jeans and a t-shirt and I notice that he has his notebook in his hands. He must have been writing. "What's wrong?" We sit down on the couch together. His living room is as neat and orderly as always.

"What do you write about when you're not writing for work?"

"Whatever happens to be on my mind," he replies.

"I want to read something."

"Rose I don't know," he starts.

"Wait. If you let me read something that you've never shown anyone else," I take a breath. "I'll introduce you to my family," that's the real reason I'm over here tonight. It isn't fair to keep him at arm's length like that, especially when it means so much to him to meet my family.

His eyes widen.

I smile. "Okay, the truth is, I think it's about time for you to meet my family and I'm going to introduce you to them regardless of what you decide. I just thought that if I let you into that part of my life," I point to the notebook in his hands. "You might let me into that part of yours."

His expression softens and he opens his arms. I lean into them and rest my head against his shoulder as his hands move up and down my back. "It's a deal," he whispers into my hair.

"Really?" I ask excitedly.

"Really. First, though, how do you feel about meeting my parents this Sunday?"

I turn my head and kiss his cheek. "That sounds like a great idea."

His lips find mine. "Thank you, Rose."

Silently, I thank him. I thank him for his patience with me.

XXXX

That's it for chapter six! I hope you enjoyed it.

Thanks for reviewing! **loverofbooks20**, **Brilliantseeker**, (I try to come up with somewhat original things. Thanks.) **The Fiffth Marauder**, (Wow, thanks! I'm flattered that this is the first RW/SM you read. I'm glad I could make you enjoy this couple. Thanks for reading and reviewing _Rose's Cinderella Story_ and _One of the Guys_ as well. That was a fun one to write.) **siriuslegolasmad**, (Thanks! Ugh… work is such a nuisance, keeping us from the things we actually want to do.) **Heartsday**, (I know! You have no idea how sad I was when I didn't get any reviews for those two days. I was like… what's wrong with my story? Then I tried to get onto and… oh, I see. Thanks for coming back to leave a review! I appreciate it.) **PrincessSophie21**, (Thanks for stumbling!) **sillylittleduck**, (I like fluffy. And banter is the most fun thing to write! I just like to imagine how my friends and I would act in those situations, and that's what I come up with. Fun fun) **FollowingTheInkTrail**, (Glad to see you haven't deserted me! Sorry about the ridiculously long time between updates. Haha, the library vomiting room… I just moved and I don't have a bookshelf yet so you can imagine that my room looks like that as well.) **thewandofdestiny**, (Yay! I'm so glad you read this despite the ridiculously long time it took for me to update. I'm awful. Thanks for the review! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.) and **Gjertrud Louise**.


	7. The Malfoys

Don't Tell Dad I'm Dating a Malfoy

Chapter Seven: The Malfoys

"This really isn't necessary," Scorpius tells me for the hundredth time as he follows me into the store.

I ignore him for the hundredth time.

"Red or white?" I ask.

"Rose," he groans.

"As in red? Okay," I grab a bottle of red wine and head toward the register. As an afterthought, I pick up a bouquet of flowers as well. "You said your mom likes flowers, right? Will she like these?"

"She would love them, but-"

"Perfect," I pay the cashier. Scorpius gives me a look. "What?" He sticks his hands in his pockets and shakes his head. "Scorpius, darling, I told you. I wouldn't feel right if I went over there empty-handed. Are you planning on getting anything when you go visit my family for the first time?"

"Well of course, but-"

"But nothing. You know as well as I do that it's the polite thing to do."

He smiles and kisses my forehead. "I know. I just don't want you to feel like you have to do anything extra. They're going to love you regardless. I promise."

"Well, just in case, I need some little sort of bribe," I hold up the bottle of wine and laugh.

He rolls his eyes. "You are a funny girl, Rose Weasley," he reaches for my hand. "Ready?"

"Ask me again when we get there."

Well, he does ask me again.

"Ready?" We're standing in front of a large oak door. I try to take in the huge size of this house. Manner. Mansion. …Fortress. Yes. The Malfoy Fortress.

That thought doesn't help me feel very welcome.

"Rose?"

I nod my head.

"You don't have to be nervous," he gently puts his arm around me and pulls me in for a hug.

"Nervous," I say. "I'm not-"

The door begins to open and I choke on my words.

An older woman wearing an apron appears. The slightest hint of silver streaks her blonde hair that she has pulled into a messy bun. She smiles when she sees us, but she looks tired. "I thought I heard voices." Her voice is soft and quiet.

Scorpius laughs. "Ah, mum, don't act like you weren't actually spying on the neighbors again," he steps forward and hugs her.

"Scorpius!" She scolds light-heartedly. "I do not _spy_ on the neighbors," she says, looking at me for a quick second before returning her gaze to her son. "I merely like to look out the window while I'm preparing dinner."

"With a telescope?" He teases.

"I do not have a telescope!" She looks at me again. "I swear I don't."

I laugh when Scorpius nods his head behind his mother's back. She turns just in time to see him do it. "Oh, don't you have something better to do than badger your poor old mum? Why don't you introduce me to your friend and at least _pretend_ that I was able to teach you some manners," she tucks a few loose strands of hair behind her ear.

He places a hand on my back and I step forward. "Mum, this is Rose Weasley. Rose, this is my poor old mum, Astoria."

"You get less cute every time I see you, you know that?" She chides. "Rose, it's very nice to meet you," she shakes my hand gently and she takes a proper look at me. It's then that she notices the flowers in my hand. "Oh, those are beautiful."

"I brought them for you. Thank you for inviting me over," I hand her the bouquet.

"Oh, of course," she says. "I always enjoy company," she looks me up and down quickly. "You look very lovely."

Suddenly self-conscious, I cross my arms in front of my chest and smile. "Thanks," I try not to look down and assess myself. I'm wearing a green sundress that Scorpius helped me pick out. I just wanted to wear a nice pair of pants and a shirt (I didn't want to overdress) but he insisted. He himself is wearing a white collared shirt tucked into a pair of khakis.

"We brought some wine, too," Scorpius holds up the bottle.

"Oh," she looks at it. "Perfect. That will go well with our dinner tonight. But you really didn't have to. Scorpius, you should have told her she didn't need to bring anything."

"Right. What was I thinking?" He shoots me a look.

"Thank you, Rose. Come in, let's not just stand here at the door," she turns around and I realize that she's wearing a lavender sundress. Okay, maybe I'm dressed appropriately.

We follow her into the kitchen and, mixed in with the delicious scent of the food, I smell the distinct aroma of coffee. "Dinner's not quite ready yet," she puts the wine down on the counter. "But I Scorpius could give you a tour of the house while we wait," she pulls a vase out of a cupboard and places the flowers in them. "Would you like some Rose?" She grabs a couple mugs. "Scorpius?"

We both nod. "Yes, thank you," I pour my own coffee and fix it up with cream and sugar.

"We don't normally drink coffee, but Scorpius said that I should make some for you."

I freeze, the mug already halfway to my lips. "I'm sorry. You didn't have to-"

"Nonsense," she pours some for herself. "It's no trouble at all. I said we don't _normally_ drink it. I didn't say we don't drink it at all," she takes a sip and smiles softly. "It's like a special treat for me."

"It's like oxygen for Rose," my wonderful boyfriend mutters under his breath.

"Where's dad at?" Scorpius finally asks what I've been wondering since we got to the front door. He is, after all, a big part of the reason that my family would not like for me to date a Malfoy. I've never actually met Draco, so I try not to let any of my father's prejudices cloud my own judgment.

For the first time since I've met her, Astoria frowns. "He's in his study. He has a lot of work to do, but he'll be down in a bit."

"He doesn't work on Sundays," Scorpius narrows his gaze slightly.

Astoria smiles again. "Well, every once in a blue moon his offices gets behind in their work. So Rose, Scorpius talks about you often. It's so good to meet you finally."

"All good, of course," he tells me, his cheeks reddening just a little. "Why don't I show you around?"

"Good idea. I'll let you know when dinner's ready," Astoria says.

I'm about to ask if she needs any help, but Scorpius puts his hand on my shoulder. "Don't even bother, Rose. She won't let you."

"Shouldn't I at least offer?"

A smirk makes a brief appearance on his lips. "I suppose you could," he says.

"Astoria, do you need any help?"

"No, thank you dear. You just let Scorpius show you around, okay?"

Scorpius doesn't say it, but he has the 'I told you so' look on his face. Oh well. At least I asked.

"Let's start at the top and work our way down, shall we?"

"You're the tour guide," I shrug, following him up the stairs to the third story.

He stops at the top of the steps. "There isn't really much to see up here," he heads toward a door. "These are mostly guest rooms, but this," he opens the door, "used to be my room."

It's mostly empty except for a bed and a few shelves. "These are some of my early works," he grabs one of the few notebooks that remain. "They're all rubbish, but I can't seem to throw them away. I'm more sentimental than I thought."

I pick up one of them. "Wow, this is dated back to our first year," I say, flipping through the frail pages.

He looks over my shoulder. "This is when I went around Hogwarts and described all of my favorite rooms."

"I can't read your handwriting," I squint my eyes but it doesn't help. Even as a young boy, he wrote in small, slanting cursive. I close the book and place it back on the shelf. "Do you play the violin?" I pointed to the case leaning against the wall.

He picks it up. "I used to," he sets it back down.

"Can you still play?"

He shakes his head. "Here, let me show you my favorite part of this room," he heads toward the fall wall and stops in front of the window. He grabs the curtains. "My grandmother made these for me when I was ten," he says, pulling them apart.

I gasp when I see.

He smiles. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

From his room, Scorpius has a view of the countryside that stretched on for miles over rolling hills, fields of wild flowers, and groves of trees. The setting sun casts a golden glow, enhancing the scenery.

"I thought you might appreciate that," Scorpius stands behind me and snakes his arms around my waist.

He shows me the rest of the house, but my favorite room by far is his. At least, it is until we reach the first floor again and he announces that the last stop on our tour is the "room with all the books," as Scorpius puts it.

Before we can enter that room, however, Draco finds us. He clears his throat to get our attention. Scorpius turns around and puts an arm around my shoulder. "Dad, this is Rose Weasley. Rose, this is my dad, Draco."

Draco looks from his son, to me, and back to his son. I can't believe how much Scorpius resembles his father. They have the same angular face and very similar body structures. Draco, however, has a paler, gaunter look about him.

"Dad?"

"Dinner is ready," he says. He turns around and heads for the dining room.

The look on Scorpius's face is one of confusion, but I think I understand. I suppose there is a lot more to do with the Malfoy-Weasley-Potter history than I realized at first. My parents never talk about it, so I don't know the whole story, but I suppose I should have expected this 'welcome' from Draco.

My stomach turns when I try to think of how my family will react to Scorpius.

I banish that thought from my mind. I'll take care of one thing at a time.

I force myself to smile. "I'm starving, let's eat," I say to Scorpius.

He nods and follows me.

Draco and Astoria are already sitting by the time we get there. They are at each end of the table, and Scorpius and I sit across from each other.

"Everything tastes wonderful," I tell Astoria after a few minutes of eating in silence.

"My mother is an excellent cook," Scorpius says fondly.

"You're making me blush," Astoria smiles gratefully. "I'm glad you're enjoying it, Rose. I love having people to cook for. That's why I insist that Scorpius come visit us at least once a week."

"I would come visit you even if you didn't insist."

"Scorpius," Draco finally speaks. "Have you met Rose's family yet?"

I set my fork down and reach for my glass of wine.

"I've met her cousin, Lily. The men in her family are very protective, though, so she's been trying to spare me from that for as long as possible. I think we'll meet within the next few weeks, though," he smiles at me and I nod.

"The men in your family are protective?" Draco repeats, this time addressing me. Before I can speak, however, Scorpius starts again.

"She and Lily told me about their past boyfriends, and how sometimes they would be scared off."

"Why would your family want to scare off your boyfriends?"

"They just want to make sure that the men in our lives are treating us properly," I say. "Lily has a tendency to fall for the 'bad boys' but I'm not worried this time," I look at Scorpius and smile.

"So you think that your family will approve of your relationship with my son."

I take a slow breath in. I know for a fact that they will be opposed to this at first, if only for the simple reason that Scorpius is a Malfoy. But I can't let that scare me. I look at Scorpius and I can't help but smile. I have such a smart, honest, polite boyfriend. He's quite possibly the most charming man I have ever met. I breathe out.

"I can't see a single reason why they wouldn't," I declare.

Draco has nothing to say after that. He excuses himself early but the rest of us finish our meals. When we finish, Scorpius helps his mother clear the table. "Rose, I know you're just dying to go see that room. We'll clean up, and you can go."

"No, I'll help clean," I start to say, but Astoria shakes her head.

"Scorpius is right. If you haven't got to see the house yet, you can go now," she smiles warmly. "You can help clean up next time."

I don't know why, but that subtle invitation to come again nearly brings tears to my eyes. I thank her and then go find the room where Scorpius and I left off. I open the door and I can hardly contain my excited. The walls are full, floor to ceiling, with books. I walk around and I chuckle to myself. They are arranged in the same order that the books in my home are.

I pick up something that looks rather interesting and I sit down on one of the chairs. I'm so engrossed in my reading that I don't even realize Draco has walked into the room until he clears his throat. I look up.

He fixes me with a hard look. "What's the real reason you haven't introduced him to your family?"

I don't answer.

"Well, I won't play dumb. I think we both know the answer to that," he turns away from me. "I was different back then. Whether your family realizes it or not, I have changed. Not to mention, I have raised my son right. He is a good person," he faces me again. "I worried for a long time that people would always have a prejudice against Scorpius because of his name. It turns out that my worries were well-founded."

"That's not true," I defend myself. "Draco, I-"

"I know," he says more softly. "I don't know how, but you're different. You don't judge my son. And I thank you for it."

I don't know how to respond.

"I'm glad he found you," he continues. "And I hope to see you around more often."

He disappears and I'm left there by myself, completely stunned.

Scorpius finds me after a few minutes. "Are you ready to go?"

I nod. "Let me go say goodbye to your mother first."

"I'm right here," she comes in. "Thank you so much for joining us tonight. I'm sorry about my husband's behavior. I don't know what came over him, he isn't usually so rude," she looks down at her hands.

"Mum said she would have a talk with him. He won't act that way again," Scorpius has a strange look on his face. Anger.

I shake my head. "It's okay. Don't worry about it. Trust me. He wasn't being rude at all. We just had a nice chat before you came in here," I explain. "He's just quiet."

Scorpius and I leave. I turn to look at the Malfoy's home. It's very lovely after all, not at all a fortress.

XXXX

Later that night, I'm standing at Lily's door.

"I need your help," I say to her. She opens the door wider and welcomes me in.

XXXX

That's it for the seventh installment. I hope I didn't disappoint anybody with this chapter. I know we always have our own impressions of the Malfoys and their family life, but this is just one way I think it could be.

Thanks for reviewing! **thewandofdestiny**, (Sorry, you're going to have to wait another chapter to find out how the Weasley/Potter families react. Should be fun, though.) **M-Dub 720**, **renagirl9**, **kulkat**, (Yeah, I just sort of felt like that was a good reaction for Harry. And I agree. I hate when anybody tries to hook me up with a guy. If I wanted a boyfriend, I would get one for myself.) **dracosnumber1girl**, (Glad to see you back!) **ilo3645**, (I'm glad you're having fun reading this.) **SexyWaffles**, (Yeah, I'm apparently all about making Scorpius _the_ most perfect guy in all my Rose/Scorpius stories. If you really want to fall for him, try reading my story One of the Guys. Um… that's when my love for Scorpius really started. As for the clock changes, I didn't get one this time. I recently moved, and we don't do the daylights savings thing over here. I feel bad for my family, though, because I called them around 7 in the morning that day and my mom was like… 'It's really like six in the morning here.' Oops.) **Gjertrud Louise**, (Well, I'm glad that you like my RW/SM story. Makes me happy!) **CullenBoyzAreMyLifeNow**, (I guess he was kinda a jerk… but he's more anti-social, I guess, than anything. I hope I handled their meeting okay.) **Shiva'sGirl**, (Hey dude! Welcome back! Sorry I haven't, you know, updated in a while… but I'm glad you're still reading!) **FollowingTheInkTrail**, (Moving was… a hassle, lol, but at least it's finally over. I've gotten transferred about four times in the last ten months, but I'm finally somewhere permanent thank goodness. I agree with you as far as you don't need a boyfriend to be happy. I'm the same way, especially with moving so much, having a boyfriend was the last thing on my mind. James and Hugo, etc. are actually trying to hook Rose up with someone because she'd mentioned having coffee with Scorpius. I guess I didn't make it very clear, but they're hoping to make her unavailable for Scorpius… if that makes sense. And that's when Rose realized she couldn't keep up the charade. The truth will set her free! Or something…) **PrincessSophie21**, (Thanks for the awesome review! I hope you liked the meeting…) **RavenclawAmber**, (I'm the same way! I'll go for months ignoring , and then I get 'The Itch' which is basically just a compulsion to write only fanfics. I'm trying to stay interested in this story. I am actually curious as to how it's going to end… haha, I haven't quite decided how yet.) and **Dramione-Fan 17**.

Here's a quick tidbit about the life o' the author Fairy Roses. You totally don't have to read this because it has nothing to do with the story. First of all, raise your hand if you drive. Now keep your hand raised if you drive on the left hand side of the road. Cool. Well, you see, I just recently moved to a country where I have to drive on the left side. I'm American, so this is a totally foreign (haha) thing to me. (By the by, I was told that I was driving on the right side of the road before, but now I'm driving on the 'correct' side. Haha.) Before I got my own car, it was funny because when my friends would give me rides, I'd try to get in on their side of the car. Heh. Not to mention I would freak out when cars would start coming toward me on the other side… Well, I bought a car, and the driving was surprisingly easy to get used to. I don't think I'll have to worry about driving on the wrong side of the road, but I do find myself (Oh, sorry… you can put your hands down now :-P) flipping the windshield wiper lever-thing rather than my turn signal every once in a while. Oh yeah… and the cars here are so much tinier than in the US! My itty-bitty car is so good on gas and I love it! Yeah, that was totally random, but hey… I thought I'd share. Peace!


	8. It Was Only a Matter of Time

Don't Tell Dad I'm Dating a Malfoy

Chapter Eight: It Was Only a Matter of Time

"Do you want some coffee?" Lily asks as I walk in.

I shake my head. "No, thanks."

She eyes me suspiciously but doesn't push the issue. I sit down on her couch and stare at my hands.

"You okay?" She takes a seat beside me.

"I met his parents," I say.

"And?" She urges me on.

"And I really like them. And they really like me, I think. His mother said I was welcome whenever," I explain how the evening went. She's on the edge of her seat by the time I tell her about Draco.

"That's great," she exclaims. She looks confused when I don't respond. "Isn't it?"

"It is. I'm just thinking about, you know, what about when he meets _my_ parents? What do you think I should do?" Despite the fact that Lily is two years my junior, I look to her an awful lot for advice.

"Rose," she grabs my hands. "It's your relationship, and it's your family. I can't tell you what to do. Look at me."

I raise my eyes and stare questioningly into her face.

"You knew this would have to happen eventually. You knew that, when you said 'yes' to Scorpius Malfoy, you would have to introduce him to your family. That didn't stop you then, why are you so worried about it now?"

Why am I so worried about it? Earlier tonight, I realized something about the way I feel. Does Scorpius feel the same? Even if he does, will he after he meets my family?

"I love him, Lily," I say the words for the first time. It feels good to admit it finally.

She smiles. "Well, of course you do. I can't believe it took you this long to figure it out."

"I haven't told him yet."

"Why not?"

I shrug. "It's not the right time yet."

"You and your procrastinating," she mumbles. "What am I ever going to do with you?"

I laugh, and I catch a glimpse of a clock. "Oh, I didn't realize how late it was," I stand up. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come."

"Oh, don't even pretend to apologize. You'd have come over in the middle of the night, regardless."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"If you want to talk, I can stay up."

I shake my head. "I should get going. What are you doing tomorrow? Could you meet me after work for coffee?"

"There's the caffeine-addicted Rose I know and love," she gives me a hug. "Of course. See you then. Now, get the hell out of here so I can get some sleep," she teases.

XXXX

Monday goes by so slowly. Scorpius comes in later than normal but can only stay long enough to pick up his food to go. He gives me a kiss on his way out the door. "A lot of people are out sick today so I'm going to be working late tonight."

"That's fine. I'm meeting up with Lily tonight anyway. I'll see you tomorrow?"

He nods. "I'll be here."

Around four, Lily wanders in and takes a seat close to the door. Nathaniel, the younger one, sees her and lets me know that I can leave early. I hang up my apron and go to the back to fix up my hair. A hopeless cause. Defeated, I brush it and pulled it into a ponytail.

Lily smiles and stands as I approach her. "I know that we're meeting so we can discuss Frank, but I have a quick story."

"Oh?"

She clears her throat. "I have a date on Friday night."

"Really? Who?"

"Er, you remember at my dad's party? I was talking to Chris Allen. Well, we ran into each other in Diagon Alley this morning, and we ended up having lunch together, and he asked me to have dinner with him on Friday night!"

"Oh, Lily! That's fantastic. He was always a really nice boy in school."

"It's okay, you can say it. He was nerdy."

"Well, I always got along with him."

"That doesn't change the fact that he was a nerd, dear Rose."

I laugh.

"In all honesty, he's still a little goofy, but now I find it endearing. But you're right. He is really nice. There aren't enough nice boys in this world these days," she gushes on and on. I smile and allow her to speak freely without any interruptions. At a speed of roughly five hundred words per minute, she tells me all about seeing him today, and she goes on, explaining the outfit she's going to wear depending on the place he decides to take her.

I'm happy for Lily, and I let her know it. Chris, when I knew him at Hogwarts, was a very polite boy, but impossibly shy around girls. I'm glad to see he's gotten over that.

By the time we reach our destination, Lily has slowed to a normal rate of speech, but her face is still flushed with excitement. I open the door and follow her inside.

"This is the coffee shop Scorpius and I come to nearly every day after work," I tell Lily.

"Hi Rose," Emily looks behind me. "Where's Scorpius?" She starts making a drink for me.

"He had to work late tonight. Emily, this is my cousin," I begin, but she interrupts me.

"Oh! You must be Lily! It's so good to meet you finally."

"So you're Emily," Lily says. "Rose is always telling me that I need to meet you."

"Scorpius says the same thing to me about you," Emily admits. "He's never told me why, though."

"Neither has she," Lily points at me. "Weird."

"Very. So," she smiles brightly. "What can I get for you?"

"What do you recommend?" Lily eyes the menu.

"What are you in the mood for? Sweet or bitter?"

"Sweet."

"Hot or cold?"

"Hot."

"Chocolate or-"

"Yes."

Emily laughs. "I have the perfect thing for you. You'll _love_ it," she sets my coffee onto the counter and turns away to fix something for Lily.

Lily leans toward me. "Can I trust her?"

I nod. "I get coffee when I come here, but sometimes I make Scorpius get something different so that I can taste it. It's always good."

"Here you go," Emily sets a cup down in front of Emily. "Enjoy."

Without hesitation, Lily picks it up. She's careful to sip it slowly. Her face lights up. "This is delicious! What is it?"

"It's my own concoction. I call it 'Emily-needs-to-have-a-better-day-now Latte.' It's made exclusively here, by Emily," she takes a bow.

"Well then, I will most definitely have to come back."

Emily looks proud. "Of course you will. In fact, I'm surprised it's taken us this long to meet. Rose and Scorpius are in here almost every day. Speaking of which, you met the parents last night, right? How did that go?"

I open my mouth to speak but it's no use.

"That's actually what we're here to chat about," Lily explains. "And Scorpius is going to meet our family soon."

"Are they still nervous about that?"

"Well," I start to say.

"I think so, but that's only natural. I'm trying to convince her that it won't be bad at all."

"Oh, that's sweet of you. Honestly, I don't know what the problem would be. Rose and Scorpius are both such good people. How could anybody dislike either of them?"

"I know," Lily agrees as she leans on the counter. "They just have to meet him, and they'll love him."

I give up trying to add to the conversation, so I just walk to the back of the shop. Scorpius and I usually sit near a window, but this feels more private, more fitting a place for the conversation we're about to have. I take a seat on a comfortable, overstuffed sofa. The atmosphere here in the back of the shop is different than up front. I look around to see a couple of muggle students poring over their schoolbooks, and another muggle curled up in an armchair reading a book. I watch her for a while, amused by the way her expressions changes every time she turns the page.

"There you are," Lily comes back after about ten minutes. "I was just talking for a second and when I turned around you had just vanished."

All I can do is roll my eyes.

She sits down. "So what's the plan of attack?"

I'd been thinking about this for a while, but I hesitate a little before answering. "I think it would be best to talk to my mum first," I say. "I'm pretty sure she would be the most receptive. As soon as I get her on my side, we'll sit down with my dad, and hope that he doesn't kill me."

Lily nods, her face full of encouragement.

"And then I figure Hugo can't be too angry as long as dad knows already."

"Sounds reasonable. So what are you going to say to your mum?"

"I think I should start out by telling her that I'm extremely happy, and that I feel like I'm in a really good place right now. And then when she asks why, I'll tell her all about Scorpius."

"That sounds like a brilliant plan, Rose. See? This wasn't too hard. I'll even go with you to talk to your mum. You know, for moral support."

I consider this for a moment, but then I shake my head. "I'm a big girl now, Lily. It's about time I start acting like one."

She raises her mug. "Cheers, mate!"

XXXX

I take the long way home. Which is to say I walk, rather than apparate. The air is thick, and it feels as though it's about to rain, but I don't care. Nothing can faze me now. My life is about to be perfect. I can see my building by the time the lightest of raindrops begin to splash on my skin. I hurry inside, but I take my time on the stairs. I can't wait to see Scorpius tomorrow. I can't wait to talk to my mum. I can't wait for them to meet.

Scorpius has been on my mind so much recently that it takes me a second to realize that it's odd that he's standing outside my door waiting for me. He smiles when I take a step back in surprise. "Hey, Scorpius. What are you doing here?" I walk up to him and kiss him on the cheek.

He kisses me back. "I just came over to say hello. I didn't get to see you long enough today."

"I know," I open the door. "Why don't you come in for a bit?"

"I suppose I could," he pulls the door shut behind him and places his satchel on the floor. "Hey Gregory," the overweight cat saunters over to him. He crouches down and scoops him into his arms. He looks up at me. "What?"

I'm confused. "What?"

"You have a look on your face. You have a goofy little smile."

I blush. "Don't make fun of my 'goofy little smile,'" I say, shrugging. "I'm just really happy. Thank you for coming over tonight."

"Of course," he walks into the kitchen. "Do you want something to drink?"

"I'll have whatever you're having," I say, watching him. "What are you doing this weekend?" I call after him as I begin picking up books off of my coffee table. I try my best to keep my books put away, but sometimes I get lazy. Scorpius is cute. He always walks into the kitchen quickly, averting his eyes from the messes I've made, and gives me time to clean up. I think it's a good little system we have.

There's a knock at the door, and I wonder if maybe Lily had something else she needs to say.

In the next few seconds, three things happen all at once. First, I open the door. Second, Scorpius steps back into the room to see who knocked. And third, Hugo stands there, speechless.

My mind races, but I can't think of a single word to say. I had a plan! This isn't how this was supposed to happen!

"Oh, er," I hear Scorpius. "Hi, Hugo," he takes a tentative step forward.

Hugo clenches his fists and takes a deep breath. His eyes are narrowed and his face is a shade of crimson I have never seen before.

XXXX

…dun, dun, DUN! That's it for the eighth chapter!

Random. I totally ran into a buddy of mine that I used to go to school with. Um, have I mentioned that I moved? I moved to another country. Wow. It's a small world after all.

Thanks for reviewing! **siriuslegolasmad**, (Thanks dude! Yeah, I put a lot of thought into how I wanted to portray Draco this time. I changed that scene about three times.) **Rebecca**, (Yeah, that was fun to write.) **JENNABONSFENALIA**, **Shiva'sGirl**, (Thanks, as usual!) **doing 25 life in Azkaban**, (I'm glad you liked Draco's reaction!) **Dramione-Fan 17**, **PrincessSophie21**, (Haha, I almost had Draco yell at Rose. That was one of my first drafts of that chapter.) **CullenBoyzAreMyLifeNow**, (Yeah, I can't wait to see what happens with Ron.) **christy86**, **Beauty Eclipsed**, **Gjertrud Louise**, (Aw, gee… thanks! I'm glad that you're liking this story more and more. I'm really trying to keep the characters unique/true to themselves. As far as responding to reviewers go, I'm glad you appreciate that. It's just something I like to do. Sometimes people don't like that I put it in my installments, but that's why I put it at the end. That way you don't _have_ to read it.) **dracosnumber1girl**, (Oh, yes, I heart Draco so much! Um, if that cliffie upset you, let me apologize for this one.) **Valmarien**, (Yay!) **Broken Gold**, (Thanks! Haha, yeah, I don't like to envision Draco as the 'omg, Weasleys suck' kind of guy.) **karenff**, (Very true, my dear. Very true.) **SexyWaffles**, (Haha, yeah. I like the idea of a mature Draco. Um, I LOVE it out here so far. And I LOVE my little car. It's so awesome on gas, and I feel better as far as the environment goes.) **Purplpocadots13**, **thewandofdestiny**, (YAY!) **FollowingTheInkTrail**, (Oh, the caffeine addiction is definitely my own projection onto Rose. I heart coffee. And chocolate. Mmm… I sent you a PM earlier, so I'll end this here before I repeat myself… Heh.) **Metafury**, (Oh, I'm sorry you've had bad experiences with RW/SM fics before. Glad you're enjoying this one. Yeah… I'm definitely going to have a bit more fun with the characters (Draco, Hugo, Scorpius, etc.) before this whole thing is said and done.) **FaithfulHPReader**, **kittybloom21**, and **JoeBob1379**, (Thanks for all the reviews dude! I love when readers do that… Meh, it's okay that you didn't raise your hand. I'll admit, I didn't expect anyone to do it for real. Take care!)


	9. Talk to Me

Don't Tell Dad I'm Dating a Malfoy

Chapter Nine: Talk to Me

I can almost feel the heat of Hugo's anger as he stands in the doorway fuming.

"Well this is awkward," Scorpius tries to laugh and ease the situation, bless his heart.

"Aw…k…ward? Awkward?" Hugo sputters angrily. "Rose," he turns his fury on me. "What the hell is _Malfoy_ doing here?" He says his name with such disgust that I flinch a little.

"Hugo, let's just talk about this. Why don't you come sit down?" My voice is barely a whisper.

"What is there to talk about, Rose?" He looks at Scorpius. "I told you that I didn't think you should go out with him. He's a _Malfoy_, for Merlin's sake," he spits the word out like it's a poison.

The hurt that appears on Scorpius's face after hearing Hugo's words cuts into me like a blade.

Part of me wants to run to Scorpius and hold him close to me. I just want to tell him how much I love him, and that I don't care what his name is. I want to tell him how stupid I was for not telling my family about him.

And then another part of me wants to run to Hugo and punch him in the face. How dare he waltz in here and insult my boyfriend? How dare he?

I hesitate a moment too long and before I can do either of those things, Scorpius speaks up.

"Maybe I should go," I try to catch his eye, but he won't even look at me. "Apparently you two have some things you need to talk about."

"Scorpius," I move forward but he shakes his head.

"I'll see you later, Rose," he says over his shoulder, as he starts walking out. Hugo is still standing in the doorway. They stare at each other for a few seconds. Eventually, Hugo yields and moves out of the way.

As the door shuts behind him, it's like the noise of the slam wakens me from a trance. "Scorpius, wait!" I yell and start running, but Hugo grabs me.

"Let him go, Rose."

"No!" I scream, struggling against him. "Hugo, what the hell are you even doing here? Let me go talk to him. Scorpius!" I yell again, although I don't expect anything to happen.

Hugo forces me to look at him. "Why am I here? Why was _he_ here?"

"He's my boyfriend, Hugo. We've been seeing each other for a few months now. I was too ashamed to tell you because of this," I throw my arms up in frustration.

"You should be ashamed of him," he begins.

"No, Hugo. Not of him. I was ashamed of you. Look how you acted. You're so, urgh!" I clench my fists and try so hard not to hit him. "Scorpius is such a wonderful person. He is the nicest guy I have ever dated, and he treats me so well."

"He doesn't deserve you," he keeps his voice calm, but I can tell he's irritated. Good.

"You don't even know him!" I blow up. "You're so ridiculous. You let everything dad's ever told you affect the way that you think of him. You have no real reason to have a hate him. He's never done anything to you. How could you be so ignorant?"

With that I stomp my way to the door. "I love Scorpius, and I'm going to keep seeing him, whether you like it or not. Get out of here," I hold it open for him. You can talk to me again when you get over yourself and you're at least ready to talk to me about Scorpius."

"Rose," he starts.

"Goodbye, Hugo."

He walks to the door. "You're really going to choose him over your family, Rose?"

"Why do I have to choose, Hugo? If you just take two seconds to talk to Scorpius, you'll realize how ridiculous you're being," I state matter-of-factly.

"You're dating a Malfoy, and I'm being ridiculous?" Hugo turns away from me.

I slam the door. "Yes, you are," I say angrily. I walk over to my couch and sit down. I stand up again and look around. Gregory eyes me curiously. "What should I do?" I ask him. I want to go over to see Scorpius. I want to talk to him and assure him that I don't agree with what Hugo was saying.

But what if he doesn't want to talk to me yet?

I sit down again. "He said he would see me later. That's a good sign, right? I should just wait until lunchtime tomorrow. He'll come, and we'll talk," I say. I stand up. "While I'm busy working? I can't do that. I have to go talk to him now."

I'm barely aware of my actions, but the next thing I know I'm standing outside of Scorpius's door, knocking softly.

Nothing.

"Hello?" I knock again, this time more urgently.

Again nothing.

He's mad at me. Of course he's mad at me. I'm mad at me. He has every right not to want to see me right now.

But can't he at least talk to me for a second, just to let me know he's there?

I make a fist and bang on the door. "Scorpius!" I yell, although I don't expect an answer at this point. "I'm sorry, Scorpius. Please, just let me in."

I press my ear up to the door and slow my breathing so that I can try to hear something.

Nothing. Not even a footstep.

Is he there? Is he ignoring me? I can't bear that thought, so I try not to dwell on it.

I give one final bang, more out of anger than actual purpose, before I turn my back to the door. I lean back and slide down into a crouch. I rest my elbows on my knees and hide my face in my hands.

_Why are you so stupid, Rose? Why didn't you just tell Hugo where to stick it in the first place, and tell your family about Scorpius? That would have prevented this whole stupid mess from happening. If you would have just acted like an adult…_

I'm so angry with myself, and I can't stop thinking these awful things. Tears start stinging my eyes, and I wipe at them furiously.

_I shouldn't have kept it a secret. Why did I think this was a good idea?_

The tears are coming faster now, and quiet sobs shake my body. I clutch my knees and hold tight, trying to squeeze the pain out of my body.

I need to talk to Scorpius. I need to sort this out. I need him to love me.

Somehow, I manage to fall asleep. The ugly thoughts are still in my head as I fall into crumpled mess on the floor.

I awake sometime later to the gentle touch of a hand on my cheek. "Oh sweetie," I hear a whisper. Through half-closed eyes, I see Scorpius, bending down to gather me in his arms. He carries me inside. He leaves the lights off and lays me down on the couch. I reach out for him but he slips away from me.

"Scorpius," I sit up suddenly. He sighs and takes a step closer. "Talk to me," I beg.

He sits down on the edge of the couch and runs a hand through my hair. I lay back down, happy to have him near me. "You need to sleep," he says, pulling a blanket over top of me. Exhausted, I close my eyes again and let sleep take me.

My sleep is plagued by awful dreams that leave me with a terrible headache in the morning. I sit up when I hear Scorpius stirring around. He comes out of his bedroom completely dressed, his satchel already slung across his shoulder.

"I have to go to work," he says without looking my way. He walks across the room. "Stay as long as you need to. We'll talk later."

"Why can't we talk now?"

He stops at the door. "I'm running late as it is."

I grab a pillow and hug it close to me as he leaves. There's an aching in my chest.

XXXX

"You look like hell," Nathaniel, the younger one, tells me when I walk in the door. He pours a cup of coffee and hands it to me. "Rough night?"

I nod my head, willing myself not to cry again. Scorpius said we would talk later. He'll come in for lunch, and we will talk.

"Rose?" Nathaniel waves a hand in front of my face. "Is something wrong?"

"I can't talk about it right now," I tie my apron around my waist and get to work.

It takes an eternity for the clock to move around to eleven. It takes even longer for twelve, and when I start believing that time is actually moving backward, the clock tricks me and moves sneakily to half past one.

I scrub at the tables angrily, cleaning up after the lunchtime rush. After clearing the last place, I throw down the towel and sit down. I put my elbows on the table and cradle my chin in my hands. I sit like this, pouting for a few minutes before Nathaniel comes to sit beside me, armed with another cup of coffee.

"Okay, girlie. Either you tell me what's going on, or I'm getting a hold of Lily."

I reach for the coffee but he pulls it away from me. "I'm also willing to resort to holding this for ransom. Information for coffee, how much can that possibly hurt you?"

I sigh, staring wistfully at the mug.

"It's Scorpius," I say.

He inches the coffee closer. "Go on."

"He didn't come in for lunch today."

"Why not?" He has a look of genuine surprise on his face. "That boy is crazy about you. What happened?"

"Hugo happened," I say. "Can I have the coffee now?"

He slides it toward me. "I guess it was only a matter of time," he says. "I know how your family feels about him. I can't understand it, though. I've always been cool with Scorpius."

I give him a look.

"Okay," he rolls his eyes. "I've been cool with him ever since we left Hogwarts. He's not a bad guy, once I got to know him."

I nod. "And I'm sure that Hugo would think that too, if only he would give him a chance."

Nathaniel smiles. "Do you want me to talk to him? I'm like Switzerland over here, a completely neutral party. I see the way that Scorpius treats you. If you were my sister, I'd be happy to see you with someone like him."

"Thanks Nathaniel, but I need to talk to him. He's my brother, and it's my relationship on the line," I begin regretting last night. I should have talked to him then and there. What if he shuns me for weeks?

"Okay," he places a hand on my shoulder as he stands up. "If you need anything, you can always talk to me. Do you want to take the rest of the day off?"

I shake my head. "I need something to distract me for a while." He nods and walks away. I'm left alone with my thoughts. Why didn't Scorpius come in for lunch? Why did he say that we would talk later, and then just avoid me?

The door opens, and I look up hopefully.

It's not Scorpius, but I'm pleasantly surprised to see Lily stroll happily through the door. The pleasant feeling fades as I see that a disgruntled Hugo is following her. They take a seat in the center of the restaurant and I walk over to them slowly.

"Hey!" Lily pipes up excitedly. "We already ate, and neither of us is thirsty, but I figured we could talk for a bit. That is if Nathaniel doesn't mind," she raises her voice.

I look back at the kitchen and see his hand wave. "Take your time," he calls back.

I cross my arms over my chest. "What's this about?"

"I think you know," Lily says. "It seems it's about the time to talk to the boys about our dear Scorpius. Hugo came over today and asked me if I knew anything about you two dating, so I gave him the cliff notes version, and brought him over here. Now it's up to you."

I smile and take a deep breath. "Thanks, Lily," I sit down with them and look my brother in the eyes. I take a deep breath. "I'm sorry Hugo. I know I should have told you about this earlier, but I thought it would be better if I could, you know, ease you into the idea of Scorpius and me. I planned to tell you soon, even as soon as this weekend, but then you came over and, well, you know."

"Yeah, you should have told me, Rose," there is a hint of pain in Hugo's voice, and I feel even worse than before.

"How would you have reacted?" Lily says quickly. She looks at me. "Oops, I'll let you talk," she places a finger to her lips, as if that will really keep the words from spilling out of _her_ mouth.

"It doesn't matter," I say. I should have told you, regardless. I know that now. I should have done a lot of things differently, but once we started in on all this secrecy, it just felt easier," I sigh. "It's too bad there's no such thing as a do over in life."

Hugo nods. "Lily," he says. "Is it okay if I talk to Rose alone for a bit?"

"Of course," she is already on her feet. "I'll go sit at the bar and bother Nathaniel," there is a mischievous gleam in her eye.

Hugo and I stare at each other for a moment before he clears his throat. "So, er," he begins. "I'm not one hundred percent sold on the idea of you dating him. I just want you to know that."

"I," he holds up his hand before I can say anything more.

"Please, just let me talk. I can't say I approve, and I especially don't like that you lied about it. What were you thinking, Rose? Yeah, I don't like Malfoy, but you're my sister. I want to know what's going on with you. I want to know that you're okay. So, I guess that I only have one question to ask you."

He sits back in his chair and looks away from me.

"Do you want me to be there with you when you tell dad? You know, so he doesn't kill you?"

I smile but tears come to my eyes.

"What's wrong?" He looks concerned. "I don't really think dad will try to kill you, I was just trying to make a joke."

I shake my head.

"You can tell me, Rose. I promise I'll listen."

"Scorpius won't talk to me," I whisper. "I went over to see him after you left last night, and he wouldn't even speak to me. He didn't come in to see me today, and he's always come in to see me," I take a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves. Scorpius is probably just trying to give me some time and some room to sort this out with my family, right?

"I'm sorry Rose," Hugo says, and I can tell that he means it. "That's probably my fault. I said some awful things last night, didn't I?"

"It's not your fault. Not really. I hurt him, you didn't."

Hugo nods slowly, thinking deeply about something.

"What is it?"

He looks up at me, and I notice that his cheeks are slightly red. "Do you love him?"

The question leaves me speechless. Did he really just ask that?

"Rose?"

I nod. "I do, Hugo. I do."

The color of his face deepens. "And does he love you?"

I look down at my lap. "He's never said so, but I think he did."

"Then what are you worried about? If he really does love you, then he'll come back to you."

At this point, I have a hard time believing that. If he would have just talked to me today, I would feel infinitely better. "How can you be so sure?" I can feel the tears brimming in my eyes.

Grabbing my hand, he actually smiles. "Because you're you."

The warmth on his face and the sincerity of his voice is too much, and I can't hold in the tears anymore.

"What the hell?" Hugo looks afraid. "I was trying to make you feel better, not make you cry."

I laugh at that. Hugo never was very good when it came to girls crying, whether they are sad or happy tears.

XXXX

That's it for the ninth chapter! Sorry this one took so long. New job, you know. I've been putting in about ten-eleven hours a day, and going in on weekends too. (I got here kind of late, and I have a lot to catch up on.) It's exhausting. It got to the point that my supervisor actually told me to take a break and get some rest. So I decided to devote some time to fanfiction :)

Thanks for reviewing! **Angelpris**, (Yeah, I knew that I wanted Hugo to find out about it at an inopportune moment, and this just seemed like a good time. Well, bad for Rose, but good for the plot. Glad you came across my fic and liked it!)

**JoeBob1379**, (Yeah, it was crazy. It's a small world, right? He's not here anymore, but it was cool to hang out with him again. Thanks for all the reviews!) **PrincessSophie21**, (Yeah, darn Hugo anyway! Just when Rose was finally ready.) **Lupin4Tonks**, (Is there really such a thing as a not-evil cliffie? And boys have to be like that because, well, they're boys. Silly creatures, really.) **dracosnumber1girl**, (Sorry it took so long dude! Hugo's reaction was kind of tame, I think, but I really couldn't see Scorpius being one to escalate the situation anymore than necessary, you know?) **M-Dub 720**, (That's no a bad idea for Ron…) **Renagirl9**, (Teehee…) **Beauty Eclipsed**, **Rebecca**, **maddikinz940**, **Broken Gold**, (That's actually a creative idea, lol.) **JENNABONSFENALIA**, **kulkat**, (Yay! You were on the edge of your seat! Sorry to make you wait.) **xKristinax**, (Glad you like my fic! And, yeah, I like to reply to my readers. I sometimes send private messages, but mostly I just put in this little bit at the end. And thanks for understanding about the whole moving to a new country thing, lol. I'm doing the best I can, I promise.) **Dramione-Fan 17**, **GobletGirl**, (I don't recall ever getting a review from you, your name doesn't ring a bell. At any rate, thanks for reviewing now, and I'm so glad that you like my story so much! I'm always happy to be there for someone when they want to do anything other than study, lol.) **.DeViLz SpAwN.**, **FollowingTheInkTrail**, (Teehee, yeah. That's definitely the response that I would give to something like that, lol. I also heart nerds, there's just something endearing about them.) **SeraphimeRising**, **Valmarien**, **Gjertrud Louise**, (Oh yes, I also have a love/hate relationship with cliffies.) **lmossm**, **FaithfulHPReader**, **siriuslegolasmad**, (Hope you enjoy a few more minutes of peace with this chapter!) **Otaku-Rehab**, (Okay, okay. Just for you, I let Scorpius live. …Yeah.) **Shiva'sGirl**, (Sorry this took forever! SORRY, sorry, sorry!) **sukanya**, (I'm really glad you found it again too!) **thebigdisaster**, (Thanks for all the reviews!) **drcjsnider**, (Yeah, I figured that would be an interesting plot device if Rose was ready to talk finally and silly ol' Hugo just barged in on them.) **Missdagane**, (What can I say? I'm just an evil sort of girl, mwahaha.) **msfriday22**, (Oh, glad you found it again! I love having the same reviewers come back again and again.) **apolla101**, (Glad you found it again too. Trust me, I freaked out so much when the site wasn't working. It literally happened just a few hours after I posted, so I was really worried when I didn't get any reviews for the longest time. Then I realized what was happening, lol. Anyway, thanks for all the awesome compliments!) **emo-marauder-d-93**, **Annabubble**, (You're goofy, lol. I'm so flattered that you're a fan! Thanks for the reviews.) **brilliantblonde**, (Yeah, we can't let Rose and Scorpius get too happy with themselves. Every story needs a bit o' drama.) and **IzzySkaluvrGallagher**, (Teehee, I think that was probably the biggest review I've ever gotten, but I appreciate your review just as much. I hope you keep enjoying this!)


	10. Support

Sorry, sorry, sorry! Here it is, finally! Enjoy! Although I must warn you… This chapter is definitely not my best work, but I'm just running out of steam for this story.

Don't Tell Dad I'm Dating a Malfoy

Chapter Ten: Support

When I go to the coffee shop after work, I'm not at all surprised that Scorpius isn't there. Emily, however, is standing behind the counter where she greets me with an uneasy smile. My stomach ties itself into a knot as I walk up to her.

"Hey sweetie, how are you?" She starts preparing my drink. "Do you you're your regular? It's on the house today."

I take a deep breath. "Scorpius was in here earlier, wasn't he?"

Her smile falters for a second and I can see the battle she's fighting behind her eyes. "He came in for lunch," she finally admits.

I nod, silently urging her to continue.

She bites her bottom lip as though she's deep in thought.

"Gracie," she calls to the other girl behind the counter. "I'm taking ten. You got it covered?" She doesn't wait for an answer as she removes her apron, grabs my coffee, and steps out from behind the counter. I follow her to a table. She kicks off her shoes and sits with her legs folded underneath her.

"He came in for lunch," she repeats. "I asked about you, and he said he didn't want to talk about it."

"So what did he say?" I ask, knowing full well that Emily would not let Scorpius off the hook that easily.

She shrugs, looking slightly proud of herself. "He said that it was complicated. Apparently your brother isn't his biggest fan? He knew it was going to be weird to meet your family, I guess, but he didn't realize it would be quite like that. He looked really sad, but I could tell that he just wanted to talk to someone, you know? He told me that he wanted to talk to you, but he wasn't ready to yet. He needed to clear his head. I think he wanted to talk to his parents too. Oh yeah, and he also said that if you came in, that I wasn't supposed to mention anything about him being here."

At that I let myself smile. "Thanks, Em."

She reaches across the table and grabs one of my hands. "He's crazy about you, believe me. So don't worry too much. He'll come back to you when he's ready."

I nod slowly as a sharp pain shoots through my chest. "I hate waiting though. I'm not going to feel better until I can talk to him. This is killing me," and I truly believe that it is. There is no way that this much pain is doing anything but, literally, killing me.

Emily looks genuinely concerned for me. "You should probably take this time to gather your thoughts. Make sure you know exactly what you want to tell him."

Well, that's an easy one. I'm going to say what I should have said in the beginning. "I'm going to tell him the truth."

XXXX

Put left foot in front of right foot. Put right foot in front of left foot. Repeat as many times as necessary. Stand in front of door. Put hand on doorknob. Turn and push.

This is where I have the trouble. My hand rests on the knob but I cannot make it move.

Three seconds pass. Ten seconds pass.

"Rose?"

I jump at the sound of my name, my hand comes off the knob, and I take a few steps back. Great. Now I have to start over.

"Rose, are you okay?" Hugo lightly touches my arm and smiles. "It's okay, I'm going to be right there with you when dad tries to rip off your head."

I glare at him. "You're not helping."

He smirks, reaches for the door, and opens it.

Showoff.

He escorts me into the house and calls out. "Mum! Dad!"

We hear a shuffling coming from the living room and mum pops her head out. "This is a nice surprise. What are you two doing here?"

_I had something I needed to talk to you about_, is what I meant to say, but nothing comes out when I open my mouth.

Mum raises her eyebrows at me and I hear Hugo stifle a laugh. I'm glad he at least finds this amusing.

"What's going on?" Dad walks in and I feel my stomach drop. This is going to be a lot harder than I thought.

"Maybe we should all have a seat," Hugo suggests, eying me cautiously. I nod in approval.

"Would you like for me to make some coffee for you Rose? And some tea for the rest of us," mum offers.

"No, thanks," I say quickly. I don't want my dad to have anything hot in his hands when I tell him what I'm about to tell him.

"Oh, okay," she smiles and waits for everyone else to walk into the room and take a seat. Hugo and I sit down on the sofa, dad sits down in his recliner, and mum stands next to his chair. "What's going on?" She asks, a smile on her face.

Everyone's eyes are on me and I take a deep breath. "First of all," I say slowly, "I just want you to hear me out without any interruptions," I look at my dad, making sure he hears me. They nod. One more deep breath, and I start at the beginning.

"So, as you know, I've been working at Nathaniel's for a long time. Well, we have a few regular customers. One of them happens to be Scorpius Malfoy," I see my father straighten up at the sound of that name.

Deep breath.

Here goes nothing.

XXXX

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

The clock counts away the seconds as I watch my parents take the time to absorb what I had to tell them. Mum is staring at her hands and biting her bottom lip. Dad is leaning forward in his chair, elbows on his knees, face in his hands, rubbing his eyes. I sneak a glance at Hugo. He's staring intently at our father.

I don't honestly believe that dad would rip off my head, and I don't think that Hugo believes it either, but as it stands… I'm glad Hugo is here. You know, just in case.

Mum looks up at me and crosses her arms. "Why didn't you just tell us?"

I look into her eyes, like, really look. I don't like what I see there: pain. Mum and I have always been close, and she looks almost betrayed that I kept this secret from her.

_What is wrong with me! This was so stupid! I hurt Scorpius and I hurt my family. How could I let myself-_

_No, Rose. No. Stop it. You can't change what happened. The only thing to do is to fix it. Now._

I shake my head. "I was scared. I was afraid of how you would all react. I didn't want to hurt his feelings, and I didn't want to hurt any of you. I guess that all sort of blew up in my face."

My mum, who would never judge me, and who could never remain angry with me, just chuckles softly. "I wouldn't say it blew up, per se. Maybe the potion boiled over the edge of the cauldron a little, but that's not a big deal. I mean, it took a while longer for the truth to come out than I would have liked, but it's not the end of the world. The important thing now is that we all know about it. Right, dear?" She nudges my father and I hold my breath. All I can picture in my mind is a little girl poking a sleeping bear with a stick.

My dad growls something into his hands. It's unclear, and I can't understand him, but it earns him a light slap on the back of the head from mum. "Ron!" She scolds.

His face is beet red when he finally looks up. His lips are pursed so tightly it appears as though they've disappeared. Hugo inches closer to me. I'm not sure whether it's a protective gesture or if he's as scared as I am, but I appreciate it all the same.

"Mal-foy," dad says slowly. "Malfoy," he repeats this time with more vehemence. "Malfoy. My daughter, my only daughter, is dating a Malfoy."

I roll my eyes. I'm ready to fight this one to the death. Scorpius is wonderful, and I'm not going to sit here and listen to my dad speak badly about him. "He's a good person, dad. He's nice, and smart, and he treats me well. He has a good job, and a bright future-"

"And I'm going to have to meet him to make sure that he's good enough for my daughter."

"Dad!" I shout. "You're being completely unreasonable! Scorpius never did… wait, what?"

"Well, he's a Malfoy. That already doesn't bode very well for him. I'm going to have to meet him to make sure that he's worth your time."

"Really? You want to meet him?"

I can't believe my ears. I was expecting the famous Weasley stubbornness to rear it's ugly head. I had myself convinced that he wouldn't even acknowledge that Scorpius was in my life, and here he is, wanting to meet him.

Dad nods. "The sooner the better. He's already waited too long to introduce himself."

"Weren't you listening?" Hugo interrupts. "That's Rose's stupid fault."

…what?

I guess I should be glad that Hugo's sticking up for Scorpius. Right?

"That's a great idea," mum speaks up quickly. "Rose, you should invite him over as soon as possible. We'll get this all settled."

"Weren't you listening either?" Hugo turns to her. "They're not talking at the moment. I really doubt he's going to want to come and meet you lot right now."

I shoot him a look.

He has the decency to look stricken. "Er, which is partially my fault, I guess. I wasn't exactly welcoming to him when we saw each other."

That's an understatement, but at least he can admit that much.

"Look," I say. "I would love for you to meet him now, but I need to talk to Scorpius, and I'm going to have to wait until he's ready to talk to me. If he wants to continue seeing me, then I will definitely make sure to invite him over here. But it's on us now," I say, realizing that the pieces are finally falling into place. But this is only half the battle. I still have to win Scorpius back. "Thank you for understanding," I walk over to mum and plant a kiss on her cheek. "And thanks for listening."

I lean down to my dad and hug my dad around the neck. "Thank you for not killing me," I whisper.

"What?"

"Nothing. Nothing," I look at them both. "I love you. So much."

"We love you too, Rosie-bear," mum hugs me tightly. "And listen. If this is meant to be, then it will happen. I promise."

I nod, noticing that my heart feels lighter now than it has all day.

"Does that mean that we'll have to talk to Draco again? That could present a few problems," my dad says, but mum hushes him quickly.

"Meanwhile, I'm really looking forward to meeting Scorpius. What's his favorite dish? I'll make sure to serve it when he comes over."

My family is wonderful. I can't fathom why I waited so long for this.

XXXX

That's it for the tenth chapter! I know, it was a lot shorter than the others, but, like I said, I'm running out of steam for this story. I think I'll be able to write two more chapters, at least, and then it'll be time to put this story to rest so that I can work on a new one. I have two great ideas, by the way! Well, I think they're great. I haven't decided which one to post next, but it'll be coming soon after I finish this story. So, if you like my writing, and if you like my Rose/Scorpius fanfic, make sure you add me to your author alert!

I try to put cute little anecdotes/updates of my life at the end of these things, but I can't think of anything interesting at the moment. I've been working a lot, and I haven't really done many interesting things. I am, however, going hiking and kayaking this weekend. That should be fun.

Thanks for reviewing! **Jokegirl**, (I hope they make up soon too!) **thewandofdestiny**, (Yeah, I modeled Hugo after my older brother. Overreact, threaten death, ask questions later. Awesome, right?) **GobletGirl**, (Thanks for the awesome review! Yeah… I'll probably wrap it up in about two more chapters. No less.) **kulkat**, (Scorpius is a really sensitive guy. He had his feelings hurt. It's going to take him a while to bounce back. Bad for Rose, good for adding drama to the story, lol.) **deceivingrumour**, (I know I could have done better with Ron and Hermione, but I'm seriously running out of steam for this story. Sorry if it's disappointing. Glad you've liked it so far, though!) **Ozma333**, **Broken Gold**, **Gjertrud Louise**, **renagirl9**, **DiamondSunshine**, **Angelgirl18647**, **doing 25 life in azkaban**, **apolla101**, **MissStud**, **ilo3645**, **parablesofapianist**, (Glad to brighten your day! Feel better!) **Beauty Eclipsed**, **Otaku-Rehab**, (Haha, yes, you and your godlike powers… Glad you liked how I played it out.) **brilliantblonde**, **Rebecca**, **siriuslegolasmad**, (So many questions! We shall see in the chapters to come, my dear, lol.) **Shiva'sGirl**, (Sorry, I did it again. Gosh, I suck at updating.) **Annabubble**, (Sorry dude!!! Thanks for showing such an interest in my story though! I'm flattered, and a little frightened of what might happen if I don't finish… Teehee.) **GrossGirl18**, **Imossm**, **dracosnumber1girl**, (Thanks! I appreciate that you recognized that.) **JoeBob1379**, (I know I sent you a PM, but thanks again for the awesome feedback!) **Everybody-knows55**, **RianneX**, **thebigdisaster**, **nattt4991**, (Haha, I could probably work a girlfriend into the story for Nathaniel. Glad you like the story!) **Dramione-Fan 17**, (Your penname makes me miss Draco/Hermione fics.) **Valmarien**, **IzzySkaluvrGallagher**, **chewing-gum-addicted**, (No worries dude. Sorry I haven't updated better. Thanks for reading still!) **GhibliGirl91**, (Glad you found me again!) **ARavenHairedIllusion**, (Yeah, I'm not a fan of the hate relationship between Rose and Scorpius, but I am going to try out a story like that. We'll see how that goes.) **Magical Note**, (Sorry dude! I know, I take forever.) **sillylittleduck**, (You're not annoying. What's annoying is when authors take FOREVER to update. That's annoying.) **lilyre**, **Squidney**, (Cute name, lol. Hope you enjoyed this one.)


	11. Smile

Surprised? Bet you never thought you'd see me around here again. Haha… I really suck at this whole update in a timely manner thing. I'm finishing this story, though. One more chapter to come after this one. Sometime, lol.

Don't Tell Dad I'm Dating a Malfoy

Chapter Eleven: Smile

I can't help but smile to myself as I leave my parents' house. The talk had gone even better than I ever could have hoped, and I find myself wishing I would have just done this in the first place. But that doesn't matter now. Now, the only thing that matters is that I find Scorpius and talk to him. I need to apologize. I need to tell him that I know that I'd screwed up, and I'm willing to do anything to make things right again.

I want to go see him tonight, but I convince myself to wait. I've had enough time to sort out my emotions and realize my mistakes, but there's no need to rush Scorpius. I can try to talk to him tomorrow.

Gregory greets me when I get home. He follows me over to the bookshelf and weaves around my ankles as I stand there looking for something to read. I smile at how organized I've been able to keep it. I turn to look at my coffee table where I have a Jane Austen novel. I pick it up and slide it back into its proper place. After a second thought, though, I pull it back out and sit down on my couch. As I kick off my shoes and pull a blanket around myself, Gregory wedges himself between my legs and the back of the sofa and begins to purr in a steady rhythm. I open the book to one of my favorite parts and read until I feel my eyes grow too heavy to keep open. I reach over to turn off the lamp and drift off into one of the easiest sleeps I've had in days.

The sun shining through my windows wakes me up. I can feel Gregory curled up on my feet so I lazily stretch my body and then playfully poke him with my toe. He gives an agitated meow and slowly rolls off of me. It's still early so I decide to take my time getting ready this morning. I put the Jane Austen novel back on the shelf where it belongs, and head to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. I wipe the sleep out of my eyes and make my way to the bathroom for a quick shower. The smell of the brewing hazelnut coffee fills the house. It's going to be a good day.

After I step out of the shower I wrap a towel around myself, go to the kitchen, pour myself a cup of coffee, and take it back to the bathroom with me. I don't usually put a lot of time into my morning routine, but this morning I pull out all the stops. It's been a while since I've pampered myself. I use my shimmery moisturizer, the one that makes my skin glow. I put a little bit of product in my hair to help control the curls, and I put on some very light make-up.

I'm in the middle of applying lip gloss when I hear my front door open and close. I freeze, catching my own look of surprise in the mirror.

"Rose?"

Lily. "Bathroom," I call out.

"Kitchen. Coffee. See you in a couple minutes?"

"I'll be right out," I assure her. I finish up in the mirror, slip into a pair of jeans, and pull a white t-shirt over my head.

Lily has a cup of coffee and a magazine sitting in front of her when I make it to the kitchen. She looks up at me with a smile on her face. "So."

I reach into my pantry and remove some pastries. I put them on the table and then pour more coffee into my mug. "So?"

"How did it go? I notice you're still breathing. So either Uncle Ron took it relatively well, or you didn't tell them after all," she narrows her eyes slightly.

I laugh and sit down across from her. "I told them. Mum took it… well, you know mum. She was upset that I didn't tell her in the first place, but she accepted it easily enough. As for dad, well, he actually surprised me. He was very calm, he let me speak, and I could tell how hard that was for him because of how red his face got."

"I can imagine!" She grabs a croissant from the table. "Go on."

"But he said he wants to meet him. So now, all that's left to do is to convince Scorpius to talk to me again," I feel a small pain in my heart. Fear. What if he decides I'm not worth it? What if I've hurt him so badly that he doesn't want to see me again?

Lily holds up a finger. She'd just taken a bite of croissant. She swallows and then reaches across the table to hold my hand. "I know what you're thinking. And you can't worry too much about it, Rosie. If Scorpius is as smart as I think he is, then he'll know what's good for him. And he'll know that, when it's all said and done, you never meant to hurt him."

I hope she's right.

XXXX

Nathaniel, the younger one, greets me when I show up for work. "You're looking much better today," he says.

"I'm feeling much better," I tell him.

"Talk to Scorpius yet?"

"No."

"And moving on," he says. "Have you seen James lately?"

I shake my head.

"He's supposed to get tickets for the Quidditch match this weekend," he goes on and on about the Chudley Cannons for a while, clearly trying to make me forget that he'd mentioned Scorpius. It's unnecessary, but it's also cute that he's trying. Eventually, he tosses me my apron, and we get to work.

The day goes on like any other, the regulars filtering in and out during the lunch hour (with the exception of a certain young wizard, but I don't let that get to me). I notice that I'm smiling a lot more today than I have in a long time.

James and Hugo show up around noon. James heads straight to the kitchen to talk to Nathaniel about the tickets that Albus was supposed to have gotten for them all, but he'd forgotten, and that's where he's at now. Hugo sat down in my section and I brought him a menu.

"Talked to him yet?"

I shake my head, knowing exactly who he's talking about. "I think I might try to go talk to him tonight," my stomach twists just thinking about it.

"Things will work out how they're supposed to work out," he assures me. "Regardless, it's good to see you smiling today. You look beautiful, sis." He nods and picks up the menu. "What do you recommend?"

Somehow I manage to keep the tears out of my eyes as I lean down and hug my younger brother. "Today's special has been getting a lot of good compliments," I say, laughing.

XXXX

Around three o'clock, my feet begin to ache. I'd been keeping myself busier than normal, and now I'm starting to feel it. I sit down for a minute and relax in the nearly empty restaurant. There's an old couple sitting by the window, chatting, and drinking coffee. Coffee. That sounds lovely about now.

I stand to go get a cup when I hear the door open behind me. I roll my eyes. My coffee will have to wait a minute until I can get the customer settled. But that's okay, because when I turn around, I instantly forget all about that anyway.

Scorpius is standing at the door. And he's smiling at me. "May I take a seat anywhere?" He gestures to all the open tables.

I say something very clever and eloquent like, "Er, uh, yeah. Go ahead."

He walks up to the counter, where he'd never sat before, and sits down on a stool. "Could I please see a menu?"

_Menu? Do we have those here? What would it look like if we did?_

I'm still staring at Scorpius, utterly dumbfounded that he was the one to come to me and I didn't have to spend days trying to track him down. Fortunately, Nathaniel saves me.

"Scorpius! Hey man, how have you been?"

That's enough to make me realize where I am and what I should be doing. I reach for a menu and place it in front of Scorpius. I then turn to grab a glass of water for him.

"I'm not too bad today," he glances up at me then, just as I turn around to look at him, and I can feel my entire body go numb under his gaze. "Hello Rose," he says softly.

"Hello Scorpius," I whisper, setting the glass down in front of him. "How are you?"

He smiles lazily and shrugs. "Been better, been worse."

"Want to make your day a little better?" I lean onto the counter and ask, finally recovering from the initial shock of seeing him.

"Absolutely. What have you got in mind?"

I flip the menu to the back page. "You should try a dessert. Nathaniel's mother makes the pies, and they're to die for. Should I go see what kind we have left?"

He laughs, and it's possibly the most beautiful sound I've ever heard. "Dessert might make my day better."

I straighten up. "I'll be right back with that piece of pie," I start, but even before I turn to leave he gently grabs my wrist. First I feel my body tense, but then I let myself relax, enjoying the warmth of his touch.

"Wait," he says.

I would wait forever for him, I realize.

Luckily, I don't even have to wait a minute.

"I miss you, Rose," his fingers gently caress the inside of my wrist.

I close my eyes. Take a breath. I open my eyes and slide my hand into his. "I miss you too. More than you could ever know."

He shakes his head. "I think I have a pretty good idea."

"So what now?" I ask, hoping that I can handle the answer.

"That's a good question."

"Do you think that things can ever go back to the way they were between us?" I ask. All I can think is that I want things normal again. I want to see him every day at lunchtime. I want to meet him at the coffee shop after we finish working. I miss him.

He takes a deep breath and shakes his head. "No, Rose. I don't want things to go back to the way they were," he says almost angrily.

He stands up, still holding onto my hand. "I want things to be different. I want you to talk to your family about me. I don't want any more secrets," he looks frustrated. "I don't think that's too much to ask."

Despite his clear and present anger, I find myself smiling. "I'm sorry, Scorpius. I know I was wrong before. I shouldn't have tried to hide our relationship. I was just worried about how my family would react. Just so you know I wasn't lying about introducing my boyfriends too early. The guys in my family have been known to scare a few of them away. But you're different. I wish I would have seen it before," I walk around the counter so that I'm standing right in front of him. "You wouldn't have left me."

"I tried to tell you that," he reminds me. "I wouldn't have let anybody scare me away from you. I know my family made some mistakes before, but my father and I have been working hard ever since then to make those things right again."

"And I was stupid. And wrong. I wish I hadn't done that to us. You mean so much to me. These past few days have been terrible," I begin, but he pulls me into a hug and I lose my train of thought.

"I know you're sorry, Rose. I know that you weren't trying to hurt me. You made a slight judgment error, but that doesn't mean that I don't want to be with you."

At that, tears form in my eyes. I look up into his face. He is smiling, but I can see sadness in his eyes, and I know that I'm the one to blame for that. I hope he knows that there is nothing I wouldn't do to make him happy again.

"I want to make things right between us. Whatever it takes," I keep my eyes fixed on his.

"So you're going to tell the rest of your family about me?"

I smile. "I already did."

He looks surprised by that. "You did?"

I nod.

"You told your family about us? Even though I didn't talk to you for days?"

I nod again.

"I know you're a good person," I say. "And I should have given you the chance to prove that to my family, rather than try to avoid the issue all together."

"Live and learn, I guess," he smiles.

"Yeah," I agree.

"You know what, Rose? I think we're going to be okay."

"Coffee after work?"

"That sounds good," he says.

"I'll meet you there. Usual time?"

He smiles. "Yes. Now, about that piece of pie."

XXXX

I go into the bathroom after I get off work. I take my hair down and try to make it look more presentable. After a few minutes of styling, I decide it's good enough, and start making my way to the coffee shop.

I am completely unprepared for the scene that awaits me. Scorpius is there, just as he said he would be. Emily is there, just as she always is this time of day. The unexpected part is that Lily is there as well. By the looks of things, it looks as though Lily and Emily are having a heated discussion with Scorpius.

From my place at the door, I can only make out bits and pieces, but I hear enough to know that they're talking about me. And by 'they' I mean that Lily and Emily are talking. Poor Scorpius is just standing there, trying to get a word in, but the two girls aren't allowing it. Helplessly, he looks toward the door and spots me. He looks so relieved and shouts "Rose!"

"Rose?" Lily and Emily speak at the same time and whip their heads around to see me.

"I've been trying to tell you," Scorpius sounds exasperated as he breaks away from the girls and stands next to me. He puts an arm around my waist. "We've already talked. We're going to be okay."

Lily and Emily are absolutely speechless. They look at each other, then back at us, then back to each other again. That's when their faces change. They smile, and then the screaming starts. Less than three seconds after that, I get tackled and hugged by both of them.

XXXX

Sorry I suck at updating. If I ever start another story, I WILL make sure to (at least mostly) finish it before I post even the first chapter! I'm also thinking I might just write some random oneshots. We'll see.

Thanks for reviewing! Nattt4991, drcjsnider, GhibliGirl91, renagirl9, MissStud, luvjazzyhale4evs13, maddikinz940, FaithfulHPReader, kulkat, muddy worm, enticement, HMMadwell, Kelsbury, SequesteredAnthem, Shiva'sGirl, brilliantblonde, Dramione-Fan 17, , lmossm, sukanya, Seaz, apolla101, dracosnumber1girl, annabubble, siriuslegolasmad, ari11990, Muse Dae, udubgirl, catastrophecolly, goldeneyedgirl247, Mibelle, Sara.E, and RandomActsOfSmartness.


	12. A Perfect Day

Chapter Twelve: A Perfect Day

It was one year ago today. I can remember, quite vividly, the anxious feeling as the love of my life and I walked up to that door. Our hands were both slightly clammy. But that didn't stop us from holding each other's hands. Hugo was with us, which was helpful I guess. That was one more distraction from the attention we would undoubtedly be receiving. We watched as Hugo knocked on the door for us.

Rose squeezed my hand. "You look great. Very likeable. Not at all the kind of guy my family would ever even think of disapproving of," she winked at me.

He'd barely knocked twice when the door opened.

"Hey dad," Hugo greeted him first.

"Dad, you know Scorpius," Rose introduced us.

Ron Weasley looked me up and down and then grunted, "Yeah, come in," before walking back inside, leaving the door open for us.

Hugo and Rose exchanged glances, and then they both smiled. Hugo even laughed. "Well, at least he's letting you in the house," Hugo smiled at me encouragingly. That helped my nerves a little.

Since then, Rose has assured me, countless times, that's just the way her father is. According to her and her brother, the fact that he even sits down at the same table as me is an improvement of the way he's treated some of her past boyfriends. And the fact that he actually makes eye contact with me when we speak to each other? That amazes Rose even to this day.

At Christmas time, Rose invited my parents to her family's get-together. It had been pleasant enough. Our mothers had gotten along splendidly. They talked like old friends, traded old family recipes, and even made plans to have another dinner for New Year's Day. Our fathers sat with the other men (Ron's brothers and Harry Potter) and smoked cigars, drank brandy, and listened to music. I guess that means they bonded, in their own way. Meanwhile, I got to meet all five hundred of Rose's cousins. Okay, so that number is a slight exaggeration, but it did take a while for me to remember all those names.

It could have been worse, I suppose.

Yep, things with Rose have been going well. Very well, in fact. I can't even begin to describe how happy it made me when I had finally met her whole family. The significance of that, to me, was that she was more serious about our relationship. I love that we're past all the awkward stages that come with merging two different backgrounds, and yet we're still just as crazy about each other, if not more so.

And that's what has brought me here today, exactly one year since the first time I met Rose's parents.

It's raining this morning. That's never a good sign. Regardless of signs, I duck my head behind my umbrella and hurry inside. It's a Monday morning, and not too particularly busy at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. I make my way through the store, saying 'good morning' to the few people that I do pass. I see George. He's helping a young wizard choose between a Headless Hat and a Basic Blaze Box.

"Good morning. Is Ron around?"

"Hey there Scorpius," he grins at me. "He should be in the office," he points toward the back of the store.

I stop when I'm standing outside of Ron's office and suddenly I'm not as confident as I was when I woke up this morning. I go through the words in my head again, hoping to make myself feel better. It seems to work. I make a fist and knock twice on the door.

"Come in," I hear his voice from inside. Oops. There went the confidence again. _Okay. Come on, Scorpius. Now or never._

_Or… later._

_No, no. Now. It has to be now._

I open the door.

Ron is sitting at his desk, reading the Daily Prophet and drinking a cup of coffee. He looks up from the paper and his shocked expression makes me wonder why I'm standing here as well.

I clear my throat. "Good morning, Ron."

"Scorpius?" He straightens up in his chair and folds the paper before placing it on his desk. "Come in, take a seat," I close the door behind me. I wonder if maybe I should keep it open. Witnesses might come in handy at this point. But it's too late for that. I take a seat across from him. "How are you?"

"I'm doing well, and you?"

"Excellent. It's 'back-to-school' time, so we're working slightly longer hours but the business is thriving."

I nod, muttering something about how I wish they would have had some of these new products when I was in school. Ron can see right through me. "What's on your mind Scorpius?"

I clear my throat again. It's feeling rather dry this morning. "I want to talk to you about something," I start. I'm pleased that my voice doesn't sound affected by my nerves. "I haven't talked to Rose about this yet because I wanted to talk to you first," I reach into my pocket and pull out a small jewelry box. "I want to ask Rose to marry me," I place the box on his desk.

I watch for any sudden movements. I wouldn't say that Ron hates me, exactly. I just don't know how thrilled he's going to be about my asking to be a part of his family. Even after this year full of family dinners and Rose and I dating without all the secrets, neither of us has made much of an effort to get to know each other.

He stares at the box for what seems like an eternity.

"I love her," I say, feeling the awkwardness of the silence begin to fray my nerves even more. "I feel as though we're in very good places in our lives right now. As far as work goes, I just got that promotion and it's working out really well for me. And, of course, Rose is getting settled into her new job. We're crazy about each other. We've talked about having a future together, but we've never made any official decisions together. But I feel ready for this now. And I think she would too. I just wanted to let you know first," my voice gets quieter toward the end.

He watches my eyes during my little speech but he doesn't react. At least not right away. After a few moments of studying my face, he reaches for the box. He opens it and then the strangest thing happens.

He smiles.

"This is really happening," he says, more to himself than to me. "Someone is actually asking my permission to marry my daughter. He marched straight up to my office, looked me in the face, and asked. I used to worry about this day happening," he closes the jewelry box and closes his eyes. "And now Scorpius _Malfoy_ is here. I always figured I would hate the guy who stood in front of me and said those words to me," he stands up and walks to his window. I stand up too, not sure what to do. When Ron turns back to me, I can't believe what I'm seeing. His face is red, but not red with anger. It's a different emotion that I'm not used to seeing.

"But you're a good man, Scorpius. And I don't hate you. And I know that you love Rosie, and you'll take care of her," he extends one of his hands toward me. "And I would be honored to have you as a son-in-law," he says with sincerity.

I grasp his hand and begin to shake but he pulls me into an embrace. It's over before I can even realize that it's happening but that's okay with me. We're both rather awkward when it comes to showing emotions.

"Thank you, Ron," is all I can think to say. "I don't know when I'll ask Rose, but I wanted to make sure that you would approve first. I know how much Rose cares about her family."

Ron nods. "Thank _you_, Scorpius. Have you talked to your parents about this yet?"

"I did. My mother actually helped me pick out the ring," I said, slightly embarrassed.

Ron laughs. "My sister had to help me pick out Hermione's ring. It's safer that way, I suppose," he says approvingly. "I think I should talk to your father then. And I'll tell Hermione. I'm sure she and your mother will want to start planning an engagement party for you two. So, you know, tell Rosie sooner rather than later."

"I guess I'll have to," I smile as my heart feels like it's flying in chest. Ron's approval means the world to me and his words of encouragement make me want to run to Rose right away and ask her.

"I'll tell her to let you know when we've made it official. Have a good day, Ron."

He smiles and shakes my hand. "You too, Scorpius. I'll be waiting to hear from her."

The rain has slowed by the time I leave. I can even see the sun breaking through the clouds. Off in the distance.

XXXX

Rose is drinking a cup of coffee at our table at Nathaniel's when I get there at lunchtime. She waves at me and stands up to kiss me.

"Hi sweetheart," I kiss her back. "How has your day been so far?"

"Great!" She exclaims sitting down. "I'm rather busy though, so I ordered already. We've been in standstill in this trade agreement for weeks but we're finally making some headway! I'm going to have to eat and run. I hope that's okay."

We sit down. "Of course, do what you have to."

"Thanks. How has your day been?"

I look away from her and stare out the window. The rain had cleared and it was beginning to look like a beautiful day outside. "Also great," she can read me so well and I don't want to give anything away in my facial expressions. "I got to have a meeting with someone I've been looking forward to talking to. Before you ask, you'll be able to read about it in the paper soon."

She pouts. "You always make me wait! I'm your girlfriend. Doesn't that give me some privileges as far as being the first to read a story?"

"Oh, look. More coffee," I say as the waitress, Vivian, brings the pot over to refill Rose's cup.

"Hey handsome, have a good weekend?"

"I did. Did you and Matthew end up going to that amusement park?"

"We did!" She exclaims. "He loved it. It was good for us to get out together like that. I worry that he's going to be getting too old for that soon. He's not always going to want to hang out with mum on the weekends, you know."

"I don't know, Viv," I shrug. "I think you'll be surprised how much he'll want your advice on things when he gets older. I used to go to my mom for everything."

Her face softens. "Thanks for that. You're so sweet," she turns to Rose. "Hold onto this one for as long as you can, love."

"Oh, I plan to."

"Your food will be out in a minute," Vivian leaves to take care of other customers.

"She told me I should wait to order our food in case I didn't know what you wanted," she giggles.

"I get one of three things every day. I order something different every once in a great while. As long as you stuck to one of the regular things I think we'll be good."

"So you're saying that today wasn't the day to go and order the liver and onions," she winks at me.

I shake my head. "I love you, Rose Weasley."

"I love you too, Scorpius Malfoy," her face lights up in a way that made my heart skip a beat. "Hey, what are you doing this weekend?"

"I don't have any plans set in stone yet," I tell her. _Well, nothing besides figuring out how to propose to you_. "What are you thinking?"

"Okay. How would you like to have dinner with my family? Mum got a hold of me at the office this morning and invited us. She sounded so excited about having you and I over that I didn't dare tell her 'no.' Do you want to go? It's on Sunday. If you want to back out, that's fine. I'll completely understand."

I laugh. Apparently Hermione has set a timeline for me. "I want to go, Rose. Just keep me updated on the details," Vivian returns, setting our food down in front of us.

"Oh, you were out of the liver and onions? Shame," I say, picking up my sandwich.

Rose's eyes twinkle with a smile. We eat and chat until it's time to go. She's been working at the Ministry of Magic for the past few months. Her uncle Percy helped her get an entry-level position in the Department of International Magical Cooperation and she loved every moment of it.

"See you after work at the coffee shop?" She asks, standing up and kissing my cheek.

"I'll be the one with the man purse," I tell her. I'd given up a long time ago trying to convince her to call it a 'satchel'. "I've got lunch today," I grab my wallet and we say goodbye. She waves to Vivian before rushing out.

XXXX

I walk into the coffee shop and Emily greets me happily. "Hey you. Lily and Chris are here, but Rose hasn't gotten here yet. By the way," she lowers her voice to a whisper and leans across the counter to talk to me. "Lily invited me to go wedding dress shopping with her and Rose."

"Lily and Chris are getting married?"

Emily rolls her eyes. "A wedding dress for Rose."

"Oh. What? I haven't even proposed yet."

"I know. But you're going to, right? That's what you told Lily right?"

"No. I told my parents, and then I just went to go talk to Rose's father to ask his permission this morning."

"You went to her father! Oh, that's so romantic and so old-fashioned!" She gushes.

"Emily, I haven't talked to Rose about this yet. I'd really appreciate your discretion on this matter."

"My lips are sealed," she runs her fingers across her lips. "But do it soon! I don't know how long I can wait to start talking about it."

"Scorpius!" Lily rushes up and jumps into my arms for a hug. "I'm so excited for you! My mum called me this morning to tell me the news and ask me to help out with the party on Sunday. It's going to be an engagement party for the two of you, so make sure you pop the question before then!"

"Oh, oh!" Emily chimes in. "You should do it tonight! Ask her tonight! Please, I don't want to wait another day!"

I shake my head. I'm not going to be able to win this one. "Please don't say anything to her about this until you see a diamond ring on her finger. I want it to be a surprise, if at all possible."

That sends them both into a fit of high-pitched squeals.

"Do you have the ring with you right now?"

"Oh, of course he does!" Lily jumps up and down and tries to pull my satchel away from me.

I let her open it and she finds the jewelry box. She squeaks and hops around me to set it on the counter so she and Emily can inspect it. "Careful," Emily whispers as Lily pops the box open.

They both gasp and I'm not sure if they're actually being quiet for once or if their squeals have hit that pitch that only dogs can hear.

"Scorpius," Lily starts. "It's beautiful."

"Gorgeous," Emily agrees.

"You think she'll like it?"

"She's going to love it. Scorpius! You have exquisite taste! I'm impressed."

I laugh. "Don't be too impressed. Mum helped steer me in the right direction. She's the one with the good taste in jewelry, but she did let me choose between this and two other rings we thought would be appropriate. She helped me pick out the necklace I got Rose for our anniversary too."

"Oh, I love that necklace too! Hey, her necklace is going to go great with this ring."

"Your mum probably planned that too!"

I look at the ring. "Huh, I think you're right. Wow, I have a lot to learn about this stuff."

They laugh and Emily gets my drink for me. I put the box back into my bag. After a second thought, I put the ring in my pocket. You never know. I'm surprised by how pleased their reactions have made me.

Rose shows up and we sit down with Chris and Lily. Chris looks slightly uncomfortable and I'm willing to bet that he's gotten an earful about weddings and such things since he met up with Lily here.

Fortunately for all of us, Lily keeps the conversation full of things having nothing to do with the engagement. She does, however, invite Rose to go shopping the following weekend. Rose agrees, having no idea that it would be her wedding dress they would be shopping for.

Lily and Chris leave a few minutes before we do. I put my arm around Rose and pull her close to me as we walk down the sidewalk.

"Do you want to come over tonight?" She asks.

I kiss her forehead. "I can come over for a bit."

"Great," she wraps an arm around my waist.

Gregory meows loudly as we walk through the door. He saunters toward me and weaves around my legs. Apparently even the cat knows my plans and is excited about it.

"You're happy today," Rose picks up the roly-poly cat and takes him into the kitchen with her. I sit down on the couch and notice a familiar notebook sitting on the coffee table.

"How do you like this one so far?" I pick up the book and flip through the pages, staring at my own handwriting.

I hear kibble being poured into a bowl. "I think that one is fantastic! It was a little sad at the beginning, though. Did you know Vivian's husband before he passed away?" Rose returns and plops down on the couch beside me.

"No. I only know what she's told me about him."

"You know, I think this one might be my favorite so far. I didn't know Vivian back then, but I can absolutely picture her being like this woman. Things would have been very tough for her at first, she probably wouldn't have been able to even get herself out of bed. But she had a great family and of course her son to look after. Well, Vivian has a son. Veronica," she points to the notebook, "has a daughter."

"Vivian's experience was my inspiration for this story. It's not completely mirrored after her life. Just like Emily's experience was the inspiration for the last one you read."

"I know," she sighs. "Aren't I ever going to inspire a story for you? I mean, you're working on one about Lily now aren't you?"

"It's not a story about Lily's love life. Her personality, however, just screams to be a character. I suppose the story is just growing around her," he shrugs. "I don't know how my muse works."

She sighs again. "You have such a way with words, Scorpius. Your characters always make my heart melt. I'm so glad you're finally letting me read these!"

It wasn't easy, but I did eventually agree to let Rose read my own personal writing. I feel a little self-conscious, I suppose, because I tend to write love stories if I write anything in my free time.

"Which one is your favorite?" She asks.

I don't even have to think about it. "The one that my mother inspired is my favorite. It's the first story that I ever finished, and I really liked finding out some things about my mother's past life and then just making up the part about what I assumed she was like when she was younger. I let her read it after I started letting you read some of my stories. She cried and hugged me for such a long time after she finished it. I even printed a copy of it for her. I'm going to give it to her for her birthday."

"Scorpius, that's wonderful!"

"Speaking of birthday presents, your day is coming up soon," I stand up. "Let's go back to your room now so I can snoop around and see what you might need."

Rose laughs but follows me back to her bedroom.

"Well, you could use a new pair of shoes," I say when I look in her closet.

"Yeah, twenty-three pairs just aren't enough."

I smile. "Maybe a sweater," I say. "I think a nice, thick, old-lady-looking sweater would look adorable on you."

Rose sits down on her bed and watches me walk around her room.

I move to her dresser. "This jewelry box is nice. Where did you get this from?"

"My grandmother gave it to me years ago. Grandma Granger, that is," she says.

I bring it over to her on the bed. "She gave you most of this too, didn't she?"

Rose smiles and picks up a broach. "She did. Mum's an only child so she only has the two of us to pass her old jewelry to. This one was a gift from her father just a year before he passed away," setting the broach aside she chooses a bracelet. "These were originally my grandmother's. They were a gift from her mother for her sixteenth birthday, and then she gave them to my mum for her sixteenth birthday, and they've belonged to me since I turned sixteen."

She looks at the next piece with such adoration. "My dad actually bought these for me after I finished school," she sets the sapphire earrings back in their place.

There's a whistling from the kitchen.

"Oh! I forgot. I started boiling water for tea!"

She rushes out of the room.

_Do it now_, a voice in my head urges. I reach into my pocket and pull out the ring. I look at it for a couple seconds before placing it carefully into the jewelry box.

Rose has two mugs when she comes back to the room. "Chamomile sound good?"

"Sounds perfect," I assure her.

She sits back down with me and I hand her another pair of silver earrings. "What's the story behind these?"

"Those are from my Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry. Eighteenth birthday," she hands them back to me.

"And what about this one?" I point to the ring and watch her face carefully. Her eyebrow arches as she looks at it. "I don't recognize it," she slowly reaches for it. I realize I'm holding my breath as she pulls it out and holds it up. "Scorpius," she starts. Apparently, it's her turn to stop breathing.

I grasp her left hand and pull the ring away from her.

"Rose Weasley," I slide off the bed and kneel on the ground before her. "You are the inspiration for the greatest love story I could ever know; our life together. And that story isn't over yet. If you want it to be, it's just beginning for us. Rose, will you be part of the most beautiful love story," I clear my throat and slip the ring onto her finger. "Will you marry me?"

Her right hand is clasped over her mouth by this point and I wait for her answer. She doesn't make me wait long, though, as she starts nodding excitedly. I stand up and scoop her up into my arms. "Yes!" She finally exclaims. "Yes, Scorpius! I will marry you!" I hug her close and she clutches to me as she begins to sniffle.

"Are you crying?" I ask.

"It's a good thing!" She assures me. "I love you," she kisses me eagerly. I can hear my heart thudding crazily and then I realize that it's reacting to the rhythm of her heart. I return her kisses with so much passion.

"I'm really glad you said yes," I say between kisses. "That 'dinner' on Sunday is actually an engagement party for us."

XXXX

That's it for this chapter! So, yeah… I switched to Scorpius' POV because, quite honestly, I didn't feel like I was getting anywhere writing as Rose anymore. I needed something new. I hope you all found it as refreshing as I did.

Oh, this isn't the end of the story by the way! I started writing a quick epilogue as well, so I'll post that in a few days after I finish and edit it a bit more. It'll only be a couple of pages, super short, but it was making this chapter too long and I didn't want to end the story at this point so… There you have it. There will be one more post and I promise it won't take another year or whatever to update it! (Oh, it would have been done today as well, I think, but I randomly felt like I wanted to buy new sheets, a new comforter, etc. and I got very distracted with online window shopping. Ugh.)

Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and thanks especially to those of you who have been with me for several stories and several (late, take-forever) updates! You're all awesome!


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